Living off the land USA Part 2

For many of us, living off the land is something that our parents or grandparents may have experienced but it is certainly far from being a reality for those of us who live in the city. Frank and Jackie Luppino graciously hosted us for 5 days in their home - on a 7 acres farm near Lodi and allowed us to experience a bit of  living off their land. We greatly enjoy the very organic and healthy way of living on the farm.

Frank is very good with dough so he often makes his own pasta and bread. But on that first day in their home, he makes pizza from scratch - proofing the dough and baking it in the mexican stove Francesca bought him for Father's Day.

Frank explaining to Yeye about the firewood for the mexican stove.
Somehow Yeye understands the body language without any translation.
Yeye listens and observes intently

Jason and Frank making the fire the mexican stove

Proofing the dough for the 4 pizzas

Cooking the pizzas in the mexican stove 

I was sent to harvest the San Marzano long 
tomatoesin the front yard for the pizza's topping. 
Love thisorganic way of harvesting and 
cooking food straight away!

Luscious long San Marzano tomatoes
freshly plucked off the vine

While waiting for the pizzas to be cooked, we munched on
Jackie 's delicious and colorful vegetables and dips.

4 men bonding whilst cooking pizzas for the ladies.Yes!!

The first pizza is ready.

Frank cuts and serves.

Yummylicious homecooked homegrown goodness!

Ken Jon is tasked to roll the dough for the pizzas
 and to do the toppings for the last pizza  personally
and to serve it to us.

Prior to our pizza party, Frank worked up our appetites by walking through his farm, unveiling the secrets in his barn and walking through his woods.

Yeye is delighted to discover several apple trees
 laden with luscious fruits.

We clambered up the secret loft in the barn where Frank unveils his swing. Even Francesca and Ken Jon hasn't seen this swing. All of us had a go on the swing but Franks swings highest and hits the ceiling with his shoes and threatens to fly out of the barn window.

Jackie swings and says she is giddy.

Frank swings high.

The little boy in Frank grinning
 as he goes higher on the swing.

His feet hit the rafters in the ceiling and he is satisfied
but Jason wants him to hurtle out of the barn window.

Frank shows us a tulip tree leaf. Why is it
called a tulip tree?Look at the profile of the leaf.
It resembles a tulip flower profile.

Oaks are divided into 2 basic categories - red and white
oaks.Red oak leaves have spiny tips.Frank educates
 us to differentiate between red and white oaks 
by looking at the thin spiny tips on the leaf .

White oak leaves don't have spiny tips

Our fave question. Can this be eaten?

I loved the way Jackie has put beautiful touches into their lovely home. And the way Frank can repair anything from dishwasher to ... What an awesome couple!

Love this pretty room with bedside lamp overlooking the front garden.

Embroidered pretty table cloth.

Such a sweet lamp.

Loved this book stand of little boy reading intently.

Over the next few days, we received quite an education on trees and many other stuff.

You can put letters with stamp in the postbox and raise the red flag up.
 Then the postman will then collect your letters and  mail them.
Saves you a trip to the post office.

We learnt how to polish apples before eating and not to take apples which had fallen to the ground as the deer could have peed over them. The moon flowers obliged us and bloomed while we were there

The joy in Yeye's face when he finds the big juicy red apples.
 Each morning, he goes out with great excitement and
 plucks the apples even when it is cold.

The moon flowers bloom in the night and early morning.

See the difference between the polished apple
and the unpolished apple.
Yes,we have become apple polishers!

Yeye enjoys eating the apples we plucked.
They taste so yummy - sweet and oh so crunchy!

Franks tasks us to pluck 2 big bags of apples.

I had taught on the word grace ח נ chen with the
 alphabet chet of a fence surrounding a young plant
 just before I left for the States. I see the fence around
Frank's young plants to protect them from the deer.

Frank took us to his woods and showed us his favorite trees.

Frank on his tree chair formed
by the trunk and roots of this tree

Jason walking through the green woods. The fresh air
and pure oxygen in the woods does us a world of good. 

The colours of fall  in the woods. Behind is is a maple tree I think.

Yeye enjoys the splendour of the tall trees in the woods.
Yeye has no cough at all while travelling overseas.
The clean air is very good for him.

Selfie in the woods

Frank is very intent when he explains his trees.

Lovers often carve their oaths on the  soft bark of the beech tree 

Frank says he also has twin towers but trees twin towers.

Frank explained  how maple syrup was drawn from trees via splies. The syrup flow downwards by virtue of gravity into thin blue plastic tubings and then  combined to bigger tubing pipes before being sent to be evaporated off. There is a new respect for maple syrup when we learnt it takes 47 gallons of raw maple syrup to become 1 gallon. Maple syrup flows usually  in late winter to early spring. the condition needed is for the daytime temperature to rise just above freezing point whilst the nighttime temperature remains below freezing point.  The change in temperature creates pressure to force out the maple syrup. I love the physics in the maple syrup flow! The pics were taken near Malabar  Farm State Park.

 Holes are drilled into  the sugar maple tree and the sap syrup
 collected via the  spire and into the blue tubings

The syrup flows downwards through the
 tubings due to gravity 

Smaller tubings join to form bigger tubings

Frank shows us the sugar maples forest

The sugar house where the logs are burnt to evaporate the
 water to produce a concentrated syrup

Maple syrup over waffles

We will post the Malabar farm and the dinner outings in another post.

The reunion of 3 generations of Yeongs in USA Part 1.

Yeye ( Grandpa) Yeong had expressed a wish to travel during our church family  camp in March 2017. He is already 89 years old and of good physical and mental health for his age. We do recognize the window for him to travel is not a very big window so we quickly proceeded to plan to bring him to Cleveland to see our son and his grandson Ken Jon this year before the very cold winter set in. 

I am awed by God's faithfulness in bringing us to Cleveland ( literally half a world away - 12 hours time difference) and safely back. When I reflect on the wonderful weather throughout the trip - my heart is moved by God's tender mercies and kindness to Yeye and to us. We were somewhat concerned over Yeye's health ( he had a lingering nagging cough that popped up each time he was in air-conditioned rooms) shortly before we left so much so Christy asked us if it was possible to cancel his airline tickets. We are so grateful to God that Yeye was in excellent health throughout the trip and did not cough at all despite experiencing temperatures from 5^oC in Lodi, Ohio to  40^oC in Dubai.

We broke the journey with 2 nights in Dubai, 2 nights in New York and then to Cleveland. The return journey would also have 2 nights in New York and 1 night in Dubai. This would help him and us adjust better to the long journey with the different time zones.I shall also break up the blog posts according to location rather than chronology. These posts are also to enable Yeye to recap and to understand his trip.I shall also begin this post by focusing on the reason for the trip - the reunion of the Yeongs and begin with the reunions in  Cleveland and Ohio. One of the things Yeye wanted to see very much was Ken Jon and Francesca 's home. He requested for a full family photo (chuin kar fook ) outside their home at Mayfield Village.

The Yeongs and the Luppinos outside KJF house

Yeye enjoyed exploring their house. He walked every inch of their front and back garden. He loved seeing how Ken Jon used his kitchen and various rooms. His happiest memories here are when Ken Jon cooked char koay teow one cold morning and also chicken curry the last night before we left for New York.

The chef in Yeye checks out how his grandson Ken Jon cooks the char koay teow.
When we came back to KL -we had a gourmet meal cooked by a renowned chef,
Yeye mentioned Ken Jon's char koay tasted better than the noodles
 of the renowned chef.

Savouring Ken Jon's char koay teow.

Ken Jon crowned our memories in Cleveland by cooking 
this yummy curry chicken for us that last night before we flew off.

Grandpa Yeye and grandson Ken Jon sit down to warm home cooked 
breakfast overlooking Ken Jon's front garden.

Jason with Isla - the cat before the fireplace.

Blue skies are reflected in KJF house windows.

Can that apple be eaten?

Lounging on the deck chair in the back garden

Yeye at the picnic table behind KJF home.

Last night together - grandson and grandfather still have lots to chat .

Francesca has decorated their home beautifully and tastefully.
View from the bathroom.

Francesca and Ken Jon planned many interesting excursions for us. We went to the Squire's Castle in North Chagrin  Reservation.

At the Squire's Castle in North Chagrin  Reservation grounds.

Yeye with the Squire Castle in the background.
The trees are still quite green.
Fall has not yet come here as of 30th Sept 2017.

"What tree is this?" Yeye asked. "Can you eat the fruits?"
The answer came much later through Frank Luppino's expertise.

This is a hickory nut tree. Remember our old nursery rhyme?
Hickory, Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock....
The fruit can be eaten and the wood used to make clocks.
The aha moment.

We also went to Lake Erie waterfront near Euclid Creek Reservation. Crossing the Cuyahago River on the bridge helped us understand  the difference between West Side and East side Cleveland. We toured a local famous beer brewery near the West Side market and had a lovely dinner at the Flying Figs.

At the Cleveland signage with Lake Erie in the background

At the famous Cleveland brewery.
Francesca braved the trudge up and down the brewery.

West Side market

I studied North America in Geography at O' levels. Mrs Ong Eng Guan, my beloved and highly competent Geography teacher made sure I was able to draw free hand the map of North America and label it clearly. The result of Mrs Ong's training is that I enjoyed maps and understand the roles of the  5 Great Lakes and the St Lawrence waterway in developing the industries here.  Do you remember the names of  5 Great Lakes? Use the  pneumonic -HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. Cleveland sits on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. Thanks Mrs Ong!

Jackie and Frank Luppino hosted us for 5 days at their farm in Lodi.  On 2nd October, they took us  (and 3 bikes) to Kelleys Island - one of the many islands on Lake Erie. We drove an hour+ to Sandusky and boarded the ferry for Kelleys Island. We cycled all around that island that day while Jason and Yeye rode in a golf cart. Frank is a great tour guide cum educator and uncontested forest expert while Jackie keeps us happy and comfy and well fed. Thank you - Jackie and Frank Luppino!

We cycled all around Kelleys Island . It was a very good
workout andnear the end - Jason had to take over the bike
while I went to drive the golf cart. with Yeye.

Yeye and Jason rode around in the golf cart.

Cleveland to Euclid to Medina to Sandusky and Kelleys Island and Milan
and back to Medina

Do you know the great lakes are remnants of glaciers? The huge glacial grooves on Kelleys Island are evidence that the Lakes were part of the receding glaciers.  The glacial grooves are the most popular natural destination on Kelleys Island. Our grooves are the largest and best accessible example of this geological phenomenon anywhere in the world! The glacial grooves are 400 feet long, 35 feet wide and up to 15 feet deep. They were created by the slow movement of the massive glacier that created the Great Lakes and Lake Erie Islands. (www.kelleysislandchamber.com/place/glacial-grooves)

 Jackie made us happy all the time.

Yeye and Jackie by the side of the deep and long glacial grooves.

On the way back from Kelleys Island, we had an unexpected bonus. Frank took us to visit Milan, the birthplace of the famous Thomas Alva Edison! Yeye was absolutely delighted and thrilled as he knew who Edison was. 

See Yeye's  happy smile  as he posed with the
 historical marker of Thomas A. Edison birthplace.

Yeye behind Thomas Alva Edison home.

Posing with Frank Luppino outside Thomas A Edison birth home.

I like the historical markers in Ohio. They really helped me learn a lot
 and make me realize Ohio is more significant  than I currently comprehend. 

Thomas A. Edison lived about 500 meters away from the Milan Canal which saw big schooners come in daily from the lakes.  His exposure to the international sailors in his early childhood may have sparked off the curiosity and began the innovative spirit within him to invent so many things. The Milan Canal later closed up after the invention of the locomotive.

My geography lessons learned 44 years ago become alive as we transverse various parts of Lake Erie including east of its entire length up to the Niagara Falls between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. But The Niagara Falls story will come in another post.