Jet-lag almost gone

I got here to East London (EL) South Africa (ZA) on Saturday, landing in Johannesburg on Friday, leaving the sun of California behind me and spending about 24 hours in planes and airports.

My transport over the Atlantic from Atlanta, a 14hour flight

I had a nice couple from Tuscon AZ sitting next to me, who were on their way Namibia for a safari.
We talked for a bit and then retreated to our respective headsets and movies.

Halfway over the Atlantic the sun started to light up the sky

On Saturday morning, after staying over night at a nice little guesthouse near the airport, I made my way to the final destination via Kulula Air. At first we boarded the plane, and everyone was seated until we were told that there is something wrong with the electrical system, and we have to change planes. They put as on a bus and drove to the next airplane.

A little excitement never hurts anyone

After arriving in EL, late, Bernd picked me up, and I met our charge for the next few weeks.

Rassie, loves to run after the birds on the beach

Today Bernd took me to the beach for Rassie's daily walk

This is a very nice place, and all I am missing now is for Patricia to get here in a few days, and, of course, I would love to have Gavin and Banjo here too.

Another great week

After spending a few days in the high desert in Anza, Aariel and Gavin joined us for a day, so Gavin could continue his mission to explore the planet.

Then we made our way back to Carlsbad via Ramona were we visited Patty and Jorge in their new home on 100+ acres of gently rolling hills. The timing was perfect. They invited us for a Thai lunch and then to their house. As a new house, it needs landscaping which is right down Patricia's alley.  Based on previous conversations, Patty & Jorge asked her to draw up a plan for what plants could go where to keep it as native as possible.
Then it was time to head to our new housesit in Carlsbad at Lore & Jerry's place where Jasmine & Jasper were waiting for us.

We settled in pretty quickly as this is the fifth time in this house, and we know the ropes and looked forward to a relaxing weekend.

Starting the new week, we had Tracy and Ken, Nicole's parents, over for a tapas and wine and great conversation.  On Tuesday our friend Glen joined us for some good SNL humor.

Wednesday was Gavin-day again; we do miss the boy when we are not there for a few days.

The big task this morning was to take care of a blocked drain in the laundry. The plumber made a huge mess, of necessity, but the reward is that the water is now flowing again.

We have needed some nice chairs in the backyard, and they have finally arrived in boxes

 to be stained and assembled; any volunteers?

After all the parts were painted,

they needed to be assembled, and I was very lucky to have a specialist on hand.

 As a reward for a great job, it was time to visit the park where we encountered a school bus, Gavin's new word.

 This gave us the perfect opportunity to practice some new skills

Now it was time for Oma & Opa to hand over the reins to Mama and Papa for the weekend.

Friday was an evening reserved for having longtime friends Tom and Sandy over for drinks, and I had a little too much of the grape juice.  But we had a great time talking about old times and times to come, as Tom is just getting started in his own beer brewery in San Clemente.

Looks like we are fully booked out, as on Saturday, we had arranged to spend time with Ashley and Peter at Sun Harbour Marina in San Diego on Verena & Michael's boat, which they are in the process of selling.

This was the last blast on this boat, and a great time was had for a fitting finish for our week.

I just love this town

Every time I come to old Encinitas, my spirits rise, and I feel very happy.

It's located on Highway 101 about 30 miles north of San Diego, and I have lived here for about 15 years with Patricia. Now we house-sit in different communities nearby.

Today, we walked just two blocks from the highway to the beach, and this is what we saw.

Coming from LA into town

Small shops & restaurants all along the road

Shops that sell just about anything for the tourist 

Tree-lined side streets

Back alleys 

Pacific Ocean north from D street

Beach looking south from D street

The old VW- iconic- needs to be there.

Sunbathing in winter, where else?

Pelicans flying in formation

Beach cottages: ahh, I remember Bondi Beach.

Trash-bins are nicely decorated. 

If you need equipment for a day on the
beach, it's right there.

Don't you just want to go there and never leave?!?!?!

It's all about Gavin

Back home we're getting settled in and entertaining Gavin a few days a week. He's keeping us busier than a lot of times before.
We brought the summer back with us from Europe, so now it's hot, and we are lucky to live just a few blocks from the beach.

I think Oma would love to join me in here

OK that's better

So how exactely does this work

Last week, we did some housesitting for Kendell and Ian while they visited Ian's parents, and as usual, we walked the neighborhood and admired people's front yards and discover new things.

A little free library where one can take exchange books.

We met Ruth and Tom, the owners of this house, sitting in there front yard waiting for someone to walk by with enough time to have a chat. Wouldn't you know it, Ruth is from Germany.
Finishing this week and for Labor Day, we went to Anza to Guido and Annette's place and relaxed a bit and enjoyed the view, the quiet and absolutely gorgeous weather.

If you look very closely, where the land ends is the Pacific.

Autumn is almost here

As I remember, this is the time of year when my mother spent lots of time cooking down all the fruit we had collected and made jam and other stuff out of it.
So here we are, having an over abundance of figs from Aariel and Ryan's garden, and we've decided to make chutney.  After exhausting all possibilities for a recipe on the internet - either we did not have all the ingredients or it did not sound right - Patricia decided to make up her own, after all, her Master's in Food Technology must be good for something other then keeping me out of trouble.
Here goes. We decided to create a

Fig Cranberry Ginger Chutney

You take about 30 (thirty) fat ripe figs,

1/3 cup of finely chopped shallot and sautee it,

add 1/2 cup of dried orange cranberries
and 1/3 cup candied chopped ginger ,

and one chopped apple. 

We also added a few green and black olives

Then comes the part where you have to use your
intuition, adding about 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar,
1tsp of Spike or salt, 1/4 cup of sugar and some
black pepper.

Everything is put into a pot with a little water to start and cooked for about 60 minutes until it reduces to the desired consistency.

Then adjust the sweet-savory and salt-vinegar taste with some sugar, salt or balsamic vinegar.

Last, you enjoy it with or on whatever you want.

If you like this recipe, here is another for Fig Strawberry Jam, which we also made.

Fig Strawberry Jam (with Ginger, if desired)

4.5 lb fresh picked figs, quartered

2.5 lb Strawberries, sliced

¼ c. diced crystallized ginger (optional)

2.5 c. sugar

2 boxes of Pectin (sugar free – pink box)

½ c. fresh lemon juice

1 Tb. Vanilla (added after it finishes boiling)

Mix the Pectin with the sugar. Add to the combined fruit in a large heavy bottom pot.  Mix and add the lemon juice.  Mash slightly or use a wand blender sparingly.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 min.  Check the thickness and adjust your cook time accordingly.  Check with a metal spoon in cold water.  If it sets up to the desired consistency, it’s done.  If not, cook longer until you reach that point.  As it cools down, add the vanilla.

Fill sterile jars to within ¼ inch of top. Put on the lids and screw tops and boil in water to cover by 2 inches for 5-10 minutes.  Remove; let cool on a rack. Lids should pop as the jars cool.

Guten appetit, or as we say in Freiburg, 'Mahlzeit.' You figure out the translation for yourself.

Remembering a story

Whenever I see a citrus tree in a garden, I remember going from Germany to Australia in 1971.  On the ship, I met another German named Klaus; he was with his wife, an Australian from Melbourne, on his way to relocate there. Early on in their relationship, he was staying at her parent's house, and one day her mother asked Klaus to go to the backyard to get her a lemon.  After a while, he came back and said he could not find the box with the lemons. He was then told that they were hanging on the tree, unlike in Germany.
We are house sitting for our friends Sandy and Lon, and they have lots of citrus and avocado trees, which I love going down to harvest.

Avocados like grapes: how many you can find?

Lemons all year round

Grapefruit almost ready to pick

Then there are the blood orange trees, and that is what we are using today.

This is an amazing fruit, very sweet and colorful

Then there is the enjoyment of the squeeze. 

Down sizing

Once again we are on the move. After having looked after Homer and Jessica's house, we spent a week taking care of Michal's house again.  This week, we will mind Tom and Wendy's place and also look after Sandy and Lon's house until the end of September.
In the meantime, for the gap on weekend, we are camping. Sandy and Eddie have a camper parked in their front yard and offered it to us for the three days between the house sitting gigs.  It's very comfortable, and it is also very quiet over here - no street lights and no noise at night.  It takes a bit getting used to after being in the big houses, but I like the coziness of the place.

This was last week

This is today.  Being flexible is the secret.

All and all, it is an interesting journey.