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Have you ever stopped what you were doing, and just observed your surroundings? I like to go out in the woods where you can’t hear any horns blaring, motors racing, or people talking and just listen to the sounds the trees make. It’s so peaceful and the vibration is different.  I don’t understand it, but it is healing.

Squirrels make a chitter chatter sound, that is quite fascinating to listen to. You can hear their nails on the tree trunks as they scurry about.

I put some food out for the chickens, things like cantaloupe, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, chard, grapes – a little bit of everything.  Eventually, the deer will make their way over to the food I’ve thrown out.  It’s funny to watch them, just now a six-point buck was sniffing around.  I would have thought he would go right for the strawberries, or the apples but no, he went right for the kale. Kale is very good for you, with lots of vitamins and minerals.

Did you know that squirrels love avocados?  Very nutrient rich, both the kale and the avocados. Animals really are smart, you can learn a great deal from watching them.

The 11 Most Nutrient Dense Foods on The Planet — This is a great list, but I wouldn’t eat the salmon, while it may be good for you, it’s contaminated with radiation. The same goes for seaweed, shellfish and sardines. Great sources of nutrients, but it can lead to cancer and leukemia.

Dark Chocolate is a terrific food with wonderful nutrients, but I’m a little curious why the author didn’t specify cacao, instead of it’s processed cousin cocoa.

The potato is one of the dirty dozen.  The skin doesn’t protect the potato, so pesticides soak right in. A better choice is organic potatoes, which do not have pesticides applied, so they’re much healthier.

Nutrient Showdown: Best Sources of Vitamins & Minerals — Moreover, we consistently hear that plant foods – fruits, vegetables and whole grains – offer the very best sources of vitamins and minerals and while they certainly play a critical role in a wholesome diet, plant foods do not always represent the best source of nutrients. Indeed, animal foods – particularly liver, roe and shellfish – offer some of the most concentrated sources of vitamins and minerals. Turkey liver offers 3 times more vitamin A than the same quantity of sweet potato.

Pay attention to what the animals eat and you can survive anywhere.  Nature is just so wonderful, please stop what you are doing and enjoy a little bit of nature today and everyday.  Let it renew your spirit while you nourish your body.

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It’s been a rough couple of weeks for our family. With the loss of our beloved feline companion and the death of a beautiful buck in our yard, along with a few other setbacks, our entire family seems to be walking around in a stupor. It can be difficult to pick up the pieces and move on after a loss.

I’ve been enjoying our birds — what a terrific distraction from lifes troubles and cares. I’ve added a couple more hummingbird feeders, bringing the total to 5. I noticed yesterday we have quite a few young ones visiting the feeders. I’ve spaced them apart so that the hummers have better access — as you probably know, they simply love to fight and competition at the feeder can be fierce.

During the winter months, the larger hummingbird feeders are preferred since they don’t have to be refilled so often but during the summer months, I use the smaller feeders (and only fill the larger ones partially), between the ants and the heat, it works out better to clean and refill them more often.

Bird Snack Recipe

I made a nice peanut butter mixture for the birds. I used 1 cup of peanut butter added to 1 cup of millet, mixed in a couple tablespoons of molasses and 1/4 cup of rolled oats. I managed to scoop it into the suet feeder. The birds gobbled it up. We now have a wide variety of birds visiting the feeders daily.

The new green metal bird house has turned out to be a wise purchase. Not only has it held up well, but the squirrels can’t get to the black oil sunflower seeds. The hood closes up if anything heavy attempts to get at the seed.

I stopped tossing peanuts out for the Stellar Jays in a location near the bird feeders since they bully the smaller birds and won’t allow them to eat. Also, the jays are forced to stand on the side of the feeder in order to get at the seeds because they are too big for them.  By tossing the peanuts in another direction it keeps them away from the feeders, so the smaller grosbeak, nuthatches and other little birds can still eat.

The new bird house holds a lot of black oil sunflower seeds, so I don’t have to refill it quite so often — even so, they can empty it entirely in about 4-days. I hope they slow down soon, at the rate they are eating it up, I’m not certain how much longer we can afford to keep this up but it is such a joy to step out onto the deck in the predawn hours and hear the birds melodious sounds breaking the early morning silence.

Weather Report

This entire past week the weather has been unseasonably cool for this time of year. The high for the past two days has been in the low 70’s. Vacationers will want to remember to bring along a spare jacket or two, as the evening and overnight temperatures can dip down quite low. It’s currently 62.

Deer Update

I am pleased to report that along with a couple of does, who regularly stop by to eat a few weeds from our yard and grab a drink of water, I finally had a young buck come by for a short visit during the early pre-dawn hours on Sunday morning. I was afraid this buck might have come to harm as well. He is such a beautiful creature. It’s a joy to watch him wander through the woods so graceful and alert. We appear to have had a bumper crop of does this year but bucks don’t seem to be nearly as numerous.

When you are driving here in the mountains, please remember to slow down and watch for wildlife. You might be amazed at what you will see, if you are looking. Have you seen a red fox lately? A bobcat? How about a chocolate brown bear? They are beautiful creatures too.

Jeb's Waffles and Ribs

At long last the mysteriously elusive Jeb’s Waffle’s and Ribs finally opened it’s doors last Thursday. We have been awaiting this day for years now. From all accounts Jeb’s is off to a rocky start.

One reliable source informed me that they normally have three breakfast cooks — this morning though, they opened with only one. One young man hired just yesterday, didn’t bother to show up for work this morning. The other called in sick. Perhaps the economy isn’t as bad as we thought.

I had stopped in during their interview phase last month, hoping they were finally open, they had an enthusiastic turnout if applicants, with many hopeful prospects. One would think it would be relatively easy to find qualified employee’s in todays market.

When you are collecting unemployment benefits, after working hard, for many years, it’s sort of hard to go back to the daily grind of working every single day. Once those unemployment benefits start to wind down, the full impact of all the recent store closures will hit home with area residents.

New Restaurant Rhythm

After attending the near opening of Gary’s Country Deli, located in Galt, CA several months ago, we swore we’d never do that again.  We made a special trip to the valley and stopped in on their second day of business — it was painful to watch. The right hand just didn’t know what the left was doing — or not doing. It took forever to get our meal (well, just shy of 2 hours) — today was just a repeat.

Club Sandwich

It takes a time for a new business to establish routines, set down policies for staff and define job duties. Let’s just say a lot of things get overlooked in the planning stages of any new business. A restaurant is unique because there are so many little details that make up a fine well-tuned team. Working out the rhythm is no simple task. It probably doesn’t help that we showed up at just past Noon on a Tuesday, only their 6th day open.

Delay in Opening Business

Rumors have been flying for years as to why Jeb’s had not opened.  So, I took this opportunity to ask a waitress about the long delay. According to this young lady Jeb’s didn’t have enough parking area for patrons, so the City of Sonora forced them to purchase more land. The auto dealership (who now has a new paved parking lot as well) located next door provided the necessary space that allowed Jeb’s to expand their parking area.

Ordering off the Menu

Shawn claims the turkey club he devoured was one of the best he has ever had. Score one point for the home team. I helped out with the cooked-to-perfection onion rings. If you’ve had onion rings from The Rock Pub and Restaurant, in Twain Harte, and like them, you will enjoy these. They are most likely the very same brand.

Alaskan White Fish Sandwich

I ordered the Alaskan White Fish Sandwich, on a hard, crunchy sub bun that dwarfed the fish in comparison. The fish was lukewarm and very crunchy, not over-cooked crunchy but a very crusty coating, I couldn’t quite make out what it was exactly. I ate the fish, dumped the bun.

Jeb’s colorful nature strewn menu held many options — breakfast is served all day our bubbly drink server happily informed us. The one obvious omission was the absence of appetizers — no mozzarella sticks for me.

 It didn’t take much convincing for Zachary to order breakfast. He said the waffle and sausage were good, and the eggs were lacking bread — a common staple when eating eggs in our home. The menu also mentioned a “cream sauce” that came with their waffles, though the only thing we could see was a lump of butter.

Half-Waffle with Sausage and Egg Over-Medium

As for some of the other food; Jeb’s only serves seasoned french fries, mine were rather crunchy and not hot. The cook had forgotten Shawn’s onion rings and as far as I could tell that was the only item served hot to our table.

The portions were fair, the food, of course was fresh. The wait for our food was very lengthy, but it was to be expected at this stage in their development. Picky restaurateurs will want to wait to make visit, until they have all the kinks worked out.

We’ve agreed to try them out again next month and see if we have an improved dining experience. We are always on the lookout for a nice family restaurant to frequent, we haven’t written Jeb’s off just yet. Our family is hoping they can pull their act together.

If you are looking for employment, Jeb’s Waffles and Ribs just might have an opening, stop in for a gander and see.

I invite our readers to stop in and sample Jeb’s menu, then drop us a line and let us know what you ordered and how you enjoyed your meal.

Jeb’s Hill Country Cooking
729 Mono Way
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 588-9633