family – Sewtropolis

A few weeks ago I shared my completed 2019 resolutions, and today I’m going to share one of my 2020 goals: obtaining my Greek citizenship.

My grandfather was born in a village outside of the town of Kalamata, Greece. Kalamata is located in the southern Peloponnesus peninsula, (in the Spartan region) and is home of the Kalamata olive – and is one of my favorite places to visit in Greece.

This past summer while I was there, I obtained a copy of my grandfathers birth certificate…. the first document of many that I need to collect to prove that I am his granddaughter – because if I can do that then according to Greek citizenship laws, I am eligible to become a Greek citizen.

Over the past 6 months I obtained certified marriage and birth certificates for my grandfather, my father, and myself – which was no small task! And, to make things more interesting, up until last week I had always thought my grandparents were married in Iowa – and it took Iowa 8 weeks and $20 to tell me that they in fact, were NOT married in Iowa at all!! Thank goodness my son is a wiz at computer sleuthing and found the correct city/state for me.

So, minus the correct marriage certificate, I was able to make the connection between my grandfather and myself, so off to San Francisco (the nearest city with a Greek consulate) I went! I flew in early on New Year’s Day, and spent some time walking around the city, I found my way to Chinatown, had dinner and took lots of photos for the photo greeting cards I’m working on!

My meeting with the consulate the next day went well, and afterwards I found my way to Lombard street, Hyde street, and then onto the Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch!

My trip to SF was fun, it was my first trip of 2020 and it did not disappoint! I flew back to Seattle bright and early the next day, and I now have my work cut out for me with finalizing, translating, and certifying all my documents – and one more trip back to SF!

Hopefully by the time 2021 rolls around, my paperwork will be in Greece being reviewed by whomever makes the decisions on citizenships!

Hopefully,

Hello! What a week I’ve had -so far. As you know I’ve been staying at the KOA for the past few weeks. The good news is I love it… the bad news is, they are SO PACKED this time of year that I had to leave for 11 days! Long story, but when I went to extend my stay they had already booked up and had no room at the inn until Aug 10th. So I will be staying with family and friends for the next 2 weeks. Yay for family and friends!

First stop: Spokane! I dropped my trailer off at the Spokane Airstream dealer to have them figure out why there is water leakage under the trailer when I hookup to city water. Hopefully it will be as simple as tightening a few hoses and won’t cost an arm or leg.

I stayed with my sister for the weekend and while there she, her friend Shirley and I went to a Powwow in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – which was so much fun!! All I can say was WOW at all the color!! There were so many people that I could not get close enough to take pictures of all the dancers in main arena. This is the best I could do – sorry – it does nothing to show off how beautiful and elaborate all the outfits were!

But I managed to put my brave pants on (pun intended) and ask a couple of dancers if I could take my picture with them. The one on the left looks all mean without a smile, but he was super nice and was all smiles before and after the picture. Same with the hottie on the right.

My sister and Shirley were giving me a hard time about missing my chance to grab a husband. So to get back at them, I asked another dancer, who was dressed up in a gorgeous outfit if he would take a picture with my sister. We nicknamed this guy “Chief I’m Single” because his friend was trying to set him up! So many missed opportunities! LOL

Now onto the creative stuff – In my last post I teased that I would show you how I make Raspberry jam – well, here it goes:

Step 1: go for a long walk along the Green River trail where raspberries grow wild along the river!!

step 2: Pick about a gallon of berries! You will need the extra for your yogurt parfait or smoothies.

Step 3: enjoy how beautiful the trail is!

Step4: get down to jam making business! I used about 1/2 gallon of berries and the juice of one lemon. I love experimenting with different flavors and since I am planning on giving these jars of jelly away I though lemon would be a safe and refreshing option. I washed the berries off real good – (I was more concerned with critters than chemicals spray). I then put them in a pot over medium heat with about 2.5 cups of sugar and let it boil for about 10 min stirring constantly!

I did not use pectin in my jelly – instead I boiled the mixture until it had the consistency of a thick syrup and then boiled a few minutes more. Then I laddeled it into sterilized canning jars, covered with a lid and canning ring then boiled in a canning pot for about 10 min. I found with Jellies you don’t have to boil very long before you hear the lid seal. Sometimes it will seal even before I put it in the pot! All good signs!

I did all of this in the comfort of my own trailer! It makes me happy that so far I haven’t had to give up anything but debt by downsizing to a 27′ trailer.

Tag: family

2020 Resolution: Citizenship

A Powwow and Raspberry Jelly