Fun in Tulsa, OK

Even Uzi is computer savy!

We just returned from a wonderful two weeks with our kids and grandkids. The first week was with Joshua, Michal and their five children; Daniel, Ariella "Cookie", Maya, Jonathan "Uzi" and Shira. This first blog entry shows them around their house in the historic district of Tulsa, OK. They'll be two more of our visit there and then we'll be on to see Zoe, George and their two children; Nick and Tommy.

Maya and Shira have fun with plastic glasses

Who needs toys?

And someone is watching...

Look at me! - who needs prompting?

Not Grammy!

Back in the playroom with some paints

Maya's painting a castle

Shira has a variety of toy trucks

Uzi joins in with some building logs

After school there's ballroom dancing lessons

Daniel is really concentrating

The ladies waiting for a partner...

Ariella and Josh at work

Maya does hers too.

Grammy and Maya carve a pumpkin for Halloween

Michal tries to get some dinner in Shira

"Cheese" Shira!, calls Grammy

Grandpa helps Shira with her computer work

Making Cider the Old Fashioned Way

On September 11  Peter Grace invited us over to press cider. We have a number of apple trees on our property that are fine for cider but not very attractive for eating. Scott gathered enough of them to fill a huge bucket and we brought them along. There were lots of apples there already as you can see in one of the pictures (and that's only a portion of them). Sandy Bragg was already there and had done some apple picking himself.
Peter is a great teacher and soon we were pitching in. We all did some sorting at first. Then Sandy and I teamed up to load the apples (Sandy) and arrange the mash into packets (me) with Peter overseeing and jumping in as necessary. Basically you slowly dump the apples into the bottom of a conveyor belt that carries them up to the grinder. Then the resulting mash drops down through an accordion like square tube into the "diapers", fitted carefully into a frame on a oak grates. The "diapers" are rough brown cloth squares about a yard square.
My job was to put a grate under the tube, then position the frame on top. The diaper was laid over in a offset position and then fitted into the frame. The mash dumped down into this until I had enough to fill the frame up to the top. Sandy then stopped adding apples and we disengaged the conveyor belt. Then I folded over the diaper carefully forming a packet and removed the frame. This was done a number of times until the pile of packets was as tall as the space beneath the fully raised press. The pile was drawn under the press and it lowered slowly, pressing the juice out and into the stainless steel pan you see at the far right of the machine. The juice ran through a hole at the end and into containers through a cheesecloth filter (an apple served as an occasional stopper to change containers). These were dumped into a large stainless steel tank.
Scott and Peter sorted, washed and ferried the apples around as well as gathered up the cider and dry mash at the end. That product is fed to pigs (not Peter's). Peter also instructed and helped when I made mistakes - too many times forgetting the diaper!
Penelope Weiss and John Davis arrived mid way with some of their pears, which we pressed separately.
We all took home some wonderful cider, which after pasteurizing, was amazing.

Peter at the apple (pear) sorter

Sandy and I hard at work

Later Penelope joined us and brought her pears

But mostly we pressed apples, some from our trees

Here's a look at the chopping/pressing machine

Washing the fruit

And the pressing grates

Heather fills the "diapers" with mash

And then adds another one

Here you get a good look at the mash

A tower of mash ready for the press

And now under the press with the cider flowing into the pail

The leftovers go to local pigs

     

Frenchboro, ME on "Jumbie"

From left; Scott, Tom (Kathy's), Heather, Brenda, John,
Kathy, Gigi and Tom (Gigi's)

Kathy & Tom on "Jumbie" invited ourselves and Gigi & Tom on "Sapphire" to sail out to Frenchboro, a small island not far from Swan's. We were lured there by the descriptions of football sized lobster rolls for lunch. Just the trip on "Jumbie" was a treat. She is a huge catamarin and has hosted parties of 60 - so there was room for us all. The foredeck as you can see provided the perfect spot to relax and let Kathy thread us through the "local narrow and dangerous" second entrance to Burnt Coat Harbor. From there she just had to dodge hundreds of lobster pots that threatened to catch on their two engine props - no easy task.
Frenchboro has a population of 61 people, 21 households and 16 families, half of which have children under 18. There is an elementary school on the island through grade 8. This is not a fancy resort or summer home community. The homes we saw were quintessential Maine, simple and white.
Walking paths wind all through the island. Tom and Gigi have been there many times and led us through the woods to the long stony beach and then along the shore in a large circle back to the town. As you can see the views were spectacular and the day, beautiful. Unfortunately the little lobster shack with the promised ultimate lobster rolls was closed, but the "larger" "Frenchboro Offshore Store" on the dock was open. And the 1/2 pound lobster roll was delicious - and expensive at $16. John and Scott got the better deal with the lobster dinner; lobster, corn, cole slaw and dessert for $10. Tom (Gigi's) insisted that everyone have the blueberry pie for dessert and treated us. It was excellent.
Another lovely trip back to Swan's Island and in time for the Sweet Chariot Boat concert cruise around the harbor. Our cheering and waving brought them back for a turn around our boat. Everyone joined in on the sea chanty. What a terrific day!

Scott and I on the bow of Jumbie with John mugging behind

Yet another lovely schooner

Tom and Gigi of "Sapphire"

A close encounter

The lobsters waiting for the pot and us!

The tiny town of Frenchboro

Lobster fishing is the major occupation

Tom's promised football lobster rolls didn't materialize

View of the harbor from the hill

The long beach covered with smooth rocks

The rocky shoreline and the trail just inside

Another schooner off in the distance between the branches

One lovely view after another on this trail

And as you can see, perfect weather

The men chat while waiting for us ladies to catch up

Distinct trail markings

Kathy at the helm with Tom looking on

We arrived just in time for another serenade by the
Sweet Chariot Music Festival's boat and crew