My Town Monday: Oasis Camel Dairy Revisited

Guess what I did???

Yup. Yesterday, DH, Child #4 and I drove to the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona, CA. It was the one evening in July that the dairy farm was open to the public.

Meet Sampson, a 3 year old, 700 pound male. He'll be mature at 6 years at which point he'll weigh about 1500 pounds. Sampson's one of 21 (hmmm...I think I got that number right!) camels on this 43-acre ranch. Sampson is short for his age. He was rejected by his mother at birth. He's been fixed. Male camels are snipped at about one year.

Other trivia: Bull camels rut in the winter, beginning about November. Romeo, the bull at the dairy, likes to take care of business about 2 A.M. Camels are very noisy with lots of yelling and screaming. The Rieglers, the dairy owners, let their neighbors know that it's "that time of the year," so that there are no worries about what's going on down at the ranch. What else? Apparently, Romeo is very popular with the females.

A little more trivia: Camel yarn sells for about $40 an ounce.


This is the back end of a pregnant camel. Camels gestate for 13 months! Yowzer! And they lactate for 18 months.

And here's some camel speak for you: The pregnant female's raised tail says to the male: "Go away! I'm pregnant. And I am not the least bit interested in fun times with you."

And from the back end of a nursing male, here's some more camel speak: In this case, the raised tail means, "Yay, the milk is here!"

Admit it! You were so hoping I'd snap a shot of CAMEL POOP. Next to a nickel (the only change I had) for perspective.

Yes, I did it! I rode a camel. Child #4 (at the front) talked me into it. It was VERY bumpy. I would never make it as a Bedouin.

Thank you, Nancy and Gil Riegler, for a great and informative evening.

(I'm a little appalled at how frumpy I look. That hat, while I love it, is doing me no favors! Neither are the capris. Or the t-shirt.)

The second I hear, I will inform you guys of the date Dirty Jobs will air the Oasis Camel Dairy segment on TV. It was shot back in February.

FINALLY....A GIVEAWAY!! I bought a bar of pomegranate-scented camel milk soap. Just for you guys. Well, for one of you guys! The soap was made at the dairy. Leave a comment by this Friday at midnight Pacific time. Child #4 will pick a name from a bowl. The soap's supposed to be great for your skin. It certainly smells good.

Clair Dickson (Thanks, Clair!) set up a very adorable My Town Monday blog with links to all the participants. Please hop on over and check out everyone else's MTM posts.

Thoughts on Child #4's Birthday Celebration

I did not bake this cake. Or any cake, for that matter. Child #4 wanted a "real" cake this year. By which she meant "bought"!

We celebrated Child #4's 9th birthday with a makeover sleepover party!

Yes, yes, I So Don't Do Makeup opens with a makeover slumber party! It was a case of real life imitating art. Without the mystery part! :)


The girls patted an oatmeal + yogurt mask on their faces.

The girls soaked their cuticles in a honey + olive oil

The girls soaked their tired nine-year-old feet in aluminum lasagna pans filled with warm water + foot salts. Then they massaged their feet with a rubber foot and used silky lavender lotion + oil.

Of course, as the mother of the birthday girl and spa manager, I hung out a lot with the girls. And eavesdropped. Here are a few of the interesting things I overheard straight from the mouths .

"Boys have issues."
Spoken with much authority by one of the guests. She was explaining why Child #4's brothers were playing video games and not joining in on the spa fun.

"Girls, girls! My makeup's falling off!"
Shouted by one of the girls who had slapped on eye shadow and blush at 7 a.m., then promptly catapulted into the pool with the rest of the gang.

"I don't know why she put eyeshadow right up to her eyebrows. Are we supposed to do that?"
A question pondered by women around the world!

"Mrs. Summy, you know what would make me really happy? If you gave us cake for breakfast and then let me go on your treadmill. It would be like I hadn't eaten at all."
This last one actually bothered me. The girl who made the request is a cute, creative, chatty 9 year old girl of normal weight. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive about the eating thing because I'm reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, a YA dealing with anorexia. Or maybe 9 year olds should be thinking exercise=healthy not exercise=not gaining weight.

What do you guys think?

My Town Monday: Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona, CA

There are A LOT of fun things to do in San Diego. A LOT. Some, like the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld, everybody knows about. Some, though, are a little off the beaten path.

Like the Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona.

You may have heard of Ramona on the news. It's where the Cedar Fire, one of our largest wildfires, began in October 2003. What else? James Cagney owned a bunch of land in Ramona. As in 900+ acres. And the town got its name from the Indian maiden in Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona. Ramona is about 37 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.

Okay. Back to the Camel Farm. I've lived in San Diego for a little over, ahem, 20 years. And I've NEVER been to the camel dairy. BUT, the next monthly tour is July 11, and I'm so there along with at least a couple of my children.



Gil Riegler and Nancy Kobert-Riegler run the 34-acre dairy, which, by the way, is the ONLY camel dairy in the entire USA.

Some trivia about the dairy and/or camels (in no particular order):

-Camels live to be about 50 years old.
-Camels have THREE eyelids to help keep the dessert sand out of their eyes.
-Gil was actually in the Israeli military and rode camels with the Bedouin.
-There are about 18 camels at the dairy.
-You can rent a camel from the dairy for a party or Nativity scene.
-Contrary to popular belief, camels really don't do a lot of spitting.





Camels produce rich milk that can be fed to foals and crias (baby llama) who are sick or injured. Camel's milk soap is full of vitamin C and is great for sensitive skin. You can buy it at the dairy or order it online (website link below).

Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel's DIRTY JOBS shot a show last Feb. at the Oasis Camel Dairy!! Here's a link to Nancy's blog post about that very cool event.

Here's the website for the Oasis Camel Dairy.

Travis Erwin has stepped down as our My Town Monday leader. Although I'm sure he'll be back with future MTM posts because who can resist the allure of My Town Monday?!

Clair Dickson (Thanks, Clair!) set up a very adorable My Town Monday blog with links to all the participants. Please hop on over and check out everyone else's MTM posts.


Sources:
http://www.ramonajournal.com/default.asp?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramona,_California
http://www.blendradioandtv.com/Ramona_CA/index.htm
http://www.sdjewishjournal.com/stories/xarchive.php?id=578
http://www.bloggersbase.com/articles/lifestyle/travel/oasis-camel-dairy-ramona-ca/ (including photo credits for all but the top pic)

The Book Review Club (July 2009)

Holy Toledo! It's the SIXTH meeting of The Book Review Club!

Without going all emo and touchy/feely, I'd like to say a million heartfelt thank yous to the reviewers. I've gotten to know most of you better through your reviews and emails and blog comments. Thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedules to blog about books. To give us your insights and opinions. To share a little of your reading life with us. I would like nothing better than if we could actually get together in real life.

And a huge thank you, also, to all our visitors. We're getting a very nice turnout each month. It's wonderful to have this opportunity to write about what we're reading. And to know readers out there in the blogosphere are interested.

Ahem, ahem. On to the book review...

There are some periods in history that just grab me. The Holocaust is one. The Salem witch trials is another. If a book, particularly a Young Adult, takes place during one of these time periods, I'm likely to read it.

So, when Celia Rees' debut young adult novel, WITCH CHILD, was published in 2000 (it was re-released last month!), I knew I'd pick it up. What I didn't know was how very much I'd enjoy it or how very often I'd end up recommending it.



Before the story begins, there is this note:

The following manuscript comes from a remarkable collection of documents termed "the Mary papers." Found hidden inside a newly discovered and extremely rare quilt from the colonial period, the papers seem to take the form of an irregularly kept journal or diary. All dates are guesswork, based on references within the text. The first entries are tentatively dated from March 1659. I have altered the original as little as possible, but punctuation, paragraphing, and spellings have been standardized for the modern reader.~~Alison Ellman, Boston, MA

What a brilliant set-up. And from here we go on to learn the story of fourteen-year-old Mary Newman. In England, Mary witnessed the torture and hanging of her grandmother as witch. During the hanging, Mary is whisked away for safety reasons and finds herself bound for Salem in the New World. Now orphaned and forced to keep her past and her supernatural powers secret, Mary attempts to make her way in a Puritan society where even a whisper of the word witchcraft can prove deadly.

The first person point of view and the diary format made this an intimate read. The suspicious society, fainting girls, and the minister who damned Mary's grandmother all work together to make this a tense read. The historical descriptions and careful language make this a rich read.

There is a sequel--SORCERESS. It was enjoyable, as well.

All in all, I'd recommend this book without hesitation.

Please, please visit the reviewers below. You won't be disapopinted. You can see that there's quite a variety of books!

YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Sarah Laurence: EVOLUTION, ME & OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE by Robin Brande

Alyssa Goodnight: THE POISON APPLES by Lily Archer

Ellen Booraem of Freelance Ne'er-do-well: NUMBER THE STARS by Lois Lowry

Thao of serene hours: ALONG FOR THE RIDE by Sarah Dessen


ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Sarahlynn of Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips: NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro (literary fiction with a dash of SF&F)

David Cranmer of The Education of a Pulp Writer: SWORDS OF THE TALERA by Charles Allen Gramlich

Scott Parker of SF Safari: THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch (sci fi)

From the Desk of Bee Drunken: LOVE IN IDLENESS by Amanda Craig

Patti Abbott: BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett

Linda McLaughlin: PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD by Marjane Satrapi, PERSEPOLIS 2 by Marjane Satrapi (both are graphic novels)

Kathy Holmes: RED HOT LIES by Laura Caldwell (book 1 of the Izzy McNeil mystery thriller trilogy)

Jenn Jilks @ My Refections: MURDER IN A GOOD CAUSE by Medora Sale (mystery)

Beth Yarnall: DIE FOR YOU by Lisa Unger (mystery/suspense)

NON-FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Jody Feldman: THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE ILLUSTRATED by Strunk & White and Maira Kalman (illustrator)

Kaye of the Book Review Forum: LEFT TO TELL, DISCOVERING GOD AMIDST THE RWANDAN HOLOCAUST by Immaculee Llibagiza with Steve Erwin

Prairie Rose's Garden: THE GARDEN OF INVENTION by Jane Smith (biography of Luther

Burbank)

Jenn Jilks @ My Muskoka: CLINIC OF HOPE: THE STORY OF RENE CAISSE AND ESSIAC by Donna M. Ivey (biography)

Sandy Levin of Peaceful Heart Stained Glass: a review of the Kindle

Note to reviewers: If I missed linking to you, please leave a comment or email me. I keep pretty good tabs on the blog on review club days.

Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian readers!

My Town Monday: Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara

San Diego sunset (because I'm back home and it's an evening post) :)

I should really rename this post My Town Monday EVENING EDITION!

It was a busy weekend. I was in Santa Barbara from Thursday to Sunday with Child #3 for a water polo tournament. Very fun times. Child #3 played well. The weather was great. I shared a hotel room with another mother and her son. They dynamics among the four of us were perfect. However...the traffic back down to San Diego last night was HORRENDOUS! And, I already had plans for today.

Hence, the very late (fashionably late?) My Town Monday post. ;)

So...Santa Barbara....There are many, many things to do in this town of about 100,000 (including outlying areas such as Goleta and Carpenteria). From The Santa Barbara Natural History Museum to Chumash Painted Cave State Park to University of California, Santa Barbara to the Summer Solstice Parade to....and the list goes on. There is A LOT to do in Santa Barbara and its environs.

For this evening's post, we're going to stroll along Stearns Wharf. This wharf is visited by FIVE MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR! We won't be lonely. And many pelicans (who love to hang out at the end of the wharf)!

We'll start our walk at the three dolphin entrance.

Some facts and a little history:
-Stearns Wharf was built in 1872 to handle both passenger and freight shipping.
-It's mostly built of creosote, a chemical that helps protects it from sea water damage
-The Wharf has dealt with a fair number of natural disasters such as earthquakes, wars and fires.
-It was named after its builder, John Peck Stearns.
-It's the oldest operating wharf on this coast.



Some things we can do on the Wharf:
-learn about the future from psychic Madam Rosinka
-stop for a bite to eat at one of several restaurants, such as at Longboards Grill or Moby Dick's
-shop at Mother Stearns Candy Company!! I love candy!!
-visit the Coastal Winery
-buy souvenirs for our friends back home from Coastal Treasures
-pop into the Stearns Wharf Bait and Tackle to get outfitted for some fishing
-squeeze in another visit to Mother Stearns Candy Company

We really would have fun, wouldn't we?

Here's a link for a virtual tour of Stearns Wharf

Please pop over to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.


Sources:
http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Visitor/Things/Waterfront/Stearns_Wharf.htm
http://www.santabarbara.com/points_of_interest/the_waterfront/stearnswharf/

odds and ends ( all good)

HUGE quadratic-formula-like congratulations to Child #3 who just finished GRADE 7. And who, a couple of weeks ago, took the high school district math test for entrance into HIGH SCHOOL HONORS GEOMETRY.

HE PASSED! So, next fall, he'll start his school day in 9th grade honors math, then return to middle school for the rest of his classes.

This is proof positive that dh's brilliant math genes totally dominated my very sorry math genes. Probably at the embryonic stage. Because all my children are better at math than their mother. Which leads me to believe that my math gene is BLANK!

Anyway, seeing your child succeed where you would've failed is...I'm not sure how to describe it, but it's an incredible, floaty feeling.




One of my sisters and her three girls are coming down this summer. My sister is fun and sensitive and interesting. Someone you want as a your BFF. And she'll be under my roof for close to two weeks. I CAN'T WAIT! I've already started stockpiling meals in my freezer so we'll have lots of time to play and still be able to feed our kids. Thank you Southwest for the great deals from Buffalo to San Diego.






Today I rewrote the first paragraph of I So Don't Do Makeup. (Waves to Editor Wendy who may or may not have been expecting this!) I read aloud the revamped paragraph to Child #2 who paused after I'd finished, then said, "Oh, that's good."

Yes, I raised his allowance.

Oh, and you know that the nanosecond I have a cover for Makeup, it's up here on the blog. The nanosecond.

So, you're all having a good summer so far, right?

My Town Monday: Oceanside Pier

At feet, 1954 feet, this is our longest wooden pier on the west coast. The Oceanside Pier is open 24 hours and offers a great stroll with views of the beach and surfers. In case you need to know, restrooms are located at the Pier's halfway mark. There's a nice little restaurant (Ruby's Diner, 760-433-7829) at the end.



The Oceanside Pier is located in.....Oceanside, CA (sometimes life is not full of surprises!). Oceanside is a North County community located 35 miles north of San Diego. It's fairly close to Legoland and the Wild Animal Park and Mission San Luis Rey.

You do not need a fishing license to cast off from the pier. The general consensus is that live bait works best, especially anchovies. Some fish you might catch: mackerel, croaker, halibut, sand bass and guitarfish. I gather it depends on where you stand on the Pier and what you use as bait.


A couple of things to watch out for:
1. There can be friction between surfers and fishermen. The old territorial thing.
2. Throw back undersized white sea bass. You want to be nice and give them a chance to grow up. Also, it's illegal to keep them, and there's a fine.


For more info about the Pier, call 760-722-1534. Oh, and an interesting book: Pier Fishing in California



Next Monday, I will be posting about a different fun pier that's NOT in San Diego because....I won't be in San Diego. How's that for a little cloak and dagger?

Please surf over (corny, but it kinda works!) to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.


Sources:
http://www.pierfishing.com/resources/?id=piers:oceanside_pier
http://www.sandiegocoastlife.com/attractions/san-diego-coast/piers-oceanside.html
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/oceansi1.html
www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/12/news/coastal/4_01_2710_11_06.txt