It was a bittersweet farewell to Santa Barbara County as E wrapped up her 4H year. She had served on her club's leadership, taken part in several projects and made some friends including her first best friend. Though we moved months ago, she carried on her projects via commute, and finally wrapped it all up with entries in the Santa Barbara County Fair.

E found her way into 4H thanks to friends who understood her. Until then, we all thought 4H was all about animals, raising and sending to the fair and, ultimately, to slaughter. Yes, we like to eat meat, but convincing the girls that killing "their friends" as they put it was OK isn't so easy. Heathyr, however, was a lifelong 4H junkie with lots of experience in all aspects of the organization. She started us easy with beginning and cooking and beginning sewing; she knew which of E's buttons to push.

In the end, E took part in projects that taught her how to keep those darned record books and introduced her to the intricacies of 4H. She took sewing and canning, cooking and cooking again, horse project, porcelain doll project. Ultimately, she served as junior leader on a fiber arts project which she led in practice, though I was the "leader." (Let's face it, she knows more about fiber arts at this point than I do.)

Funny that the first year she was in 4H, E didn't want to enter anything in the fair. She'd entered in various fairs several of the previous years. But in 2012, she was on with entries in fiber arts (a crocheted hat from wool she'd spun with a drop spindle) and an entry in the special "denim decorating" category commemorating this year's Bluejean & Country Dreams theme. Unfortunately her canned goods (strawberry jam and apple pie filling) didn't qualify for the entry - who knew you needed to enter TWO containers of EACH entry? Live and learn.

E was happy with the results, particularly the check for her denim effort. She used her winnings to buy more yarn, and she's already working on next year's fair entries in multiple categories. And looking forward, though with a little trepidation, to joining 4H again in our new community.

What we learned:
4H is about LOADS more than raising animals;
4H is very fair focused;
don't rely on anyone else when it comes to fair entries - read all the rules yourself.

Fourth of July Suburban-Style

Our children have never lived anywhere fireworks are legal. They've done sparklers at a relative's house in the country, watched an older cousin set off fireworks in front of his house elsewhere in California, watched them from the dunes in Washington and during the Havasu winter pyrotechnic convention display.

This year, with the move, the fireworks story is even more dire. There's no WAY we'll ever be able to do fireworks out in this brittle summer territory.

And so, another reason we're thankful to have friends who include us in their family fun. We returned to our old haunts to join in a BBQ and firework display with friends and (former) neighbors. (They ditched us first!) And we were all treated with the most amazing fireworks display the girls have ever seen on a public street. They had a blast and a half.

Elderberry Sessions - Jam and Pie

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!"
                               - Monty Python's Holy Grail

Well, I'm not sure about the hamster bit, but smelling of elderberries, it turns out, isn't such a bad thing. This summer, we experimented with the native berries and found them, while a bit tart, quite flavorful. And we managed to make our first berry pie with them, then plenty of syrup before the heat sapped us of berry-picking energy.

E spotted the plants growing on our property earlier this year. I though, as I too often do, that she couldn't possibly be right. The only elderberries I'd heard of came courtesy of British comedy, so I figured they'd only grow in cooler climes. Fortunately, E and V had been paying attention during their junior docent training and La Purisima Mission. They've spotted all sorts of plants here that they learned about during those sessions; among them, elderberry.

Once they'd educated me (and, of course, I'd done  more research on the internet and double checked with adults-in-the-know in our new neighborhood), I could see them all OVER the place. Now, on our drive to town each day, I can spot them at high speed a fair distance away.

We checked on our drive-by berries now and again until we discovered they were ready for their first round of picking. One warm, sunny afternoon, E, V and I gathered some bowls and headed out. Together, we gathered enough berries to make our first berry pie using a recipe from our trusty old, red-bound Good Housekeeping Cookbook. The pie turned out scrumptious, but we learned there are LOTS of seed in elderberries. I also learned why it is I've never really cared for berry pie on its own: it's basically jam in a pastry. I eat jam with peanut butter, but I'm not one of those who sneaks spoonfuls of the stuff as a treat. And I've never been big on pie pastry. Still, it was great with ice cream! Next time: use a ricer to remove the seeds and make it a jelly pie.

We returned to our favorite picking bush a week or so later to gather another bundle. Grandma M helped us pluck the tiny berries from the stems and assure there were no leaves in the final product. (Turns out that while the berries are tasty, the leaves and stems are poisonous.) It was time-consuming work, but well worth the effort. We cooked down the berries, used the strainer to remove a lot of the seeds, then returned the good stuff to the pot for more cooking until it jelled. Using the Ball Blue Book of Canning and no pectin we conjured up a pretty good batch of elderberry syrup. I think we could've cooked it longer, but we really didn't want jam this go 'round.

We'd hoped to return for another berry reaping, but the heat got to us far before it adversely affected the remaining berries. We couldn't bring ourselves to get up early enough to beat the sun to the berries, nor to stand in the pounding heat. But next year, you bet we'll be returning for more jam, jelly and syrup makin's, and maybe even another pie.