“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” – Willa Cather, O Pioneers! 1913

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Ah, the good ol' days when every farm house, like the Anderson Ranch house, had a butter churn and when calories didn't count.

Many varieties of butter churns were available, from wooden or crockery churns to the 1920s version, which was a large glass jar mixer that was turned by hand with the crank on the jar's lid.

The old crockery or tall wood churns employed a dasher, or plunger which was manipulated up and down in the cream to eventually produce golden butter.

It is said that pioneers moving west along the trails simply kept an enclosed container of some sort on the back of the wagon. The constant movement along the trail churned the butter for them.

A barrel churn, like the one in the photograph could be turned by a handle, which turned a crank with churn-paddles inside the wooden container. The larger barrel churns were used more often for larger production purposes.

Butter as a food goes back as far as 2,000 B.C. Certain butter churns were put to use as far back as the 6th century A.D.

According to National Geographic, “bog butter” was unearthed in Ireland. The 22-pound mass of fat that was found in a bog is believed to have been preserved in the peat over 2,000 years ago.

Bog butter has been unearthed in more than 400 places there. The cool, acidic moisture in the bogs was used as an early form of refrigeration for many foods. Bog butter could be bartered or even used to pay taxes then.

Butter's creamy colors range from yellow to off-white, depending on Bessie the cow's feed. Today, carotene or other coloring is often added to butter.

Aside from making butter from cream skimmed off the top of cow's milk, butter can be produced from goats and sheep. For an exotic culinary treat butter can be churned from buffalo or yak's milk as well.

When butter is first churned the cream separates. The thin liquid left after the separation is buttermilk.

Can you say butter cookies, buttered popcorn and buttered biscuits?

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LUCERNE, Calif. – In the last installment of its fall Distinguished Speaker Series, the Friends of Marymount California University Lakeside presented a sommelier whose talk featured the chance to taste pairings of food and wine produced here in Lake County.

“Grape to Glass: The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture in Lake County” wound up on Dec. 1 at Marymount California University's Lakeside campus in Lucerne.

Robert Bath, MS, CHE, professor of wine and beverage studies at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, and member of the Court of Master Sommeliers, was the featured speaker.

A fan of Lake County food and wine, he spoke about the Farm to Table movement, which he believes has a special opportunity in Lake County.

See the full video of his presentation above.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has mixes of various working dog breeds needing new homes this week.
                                                           
This week's available dogs include mixes of Beagle, cattle dog, dachshund, Doberman Pinscher, pit bull, Shar Pei, shepherd, terrier and Viszla.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Doberman Pinscher-shepherd mix

This male Doberman Pinscher-shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat with white markings.

He is of medium size, has a docked tail and erect ears.

He's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 6634.

'Rebel'

“Rebel” is a young male shepherd-pit bull terrier mix with a short red coat.

He's in kennel No. 8, ID No. 6653.

Shepherd-beagle mix

This female shepherd-beagle mix has a short tricolor coat.

She's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 6517.

Terrier mix

This male terrier mix has a short black coat with white markings and floppy ears.

He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 6505.

Pit bull terrier

This male pit bull terrier has a short white coat with blue markings.

He's in kennel No. 12, ID No. 6628.

Pit bull terrier

This large young male pit bull terrier has a short brown brindle coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 20, ID No. 6618.

Vizsla mix

This female Vizsla mix has a short black and brown coat.

She's in kennel No. 6537, ID No. 22a.

Vizsla mix

This male Vizsla mix has a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 22b, ID No. 6538.

Cattle dog mix

This female cattle dog mix has a short black and brown coat.

Staff said she is very scared in the shelter and needs some tender loving care.

She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 6506.

Shar Pei-pit bull mix

This male Shar Pei-pit bull mix has a short black and white coat.

Shelter staff said he already has been neutered, and would do well in a home with no livestock.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 6629.

Pit bull terrier

This male pit bull terrier has a short white coat with black markings.

He's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 6612.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Pacific storm system is expected to bring more rain to the region and Lake County this week.

The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement warning of more rain – and snow in higher elevations – through Thursday.

Forecasters said the warm and wet weather system moving inland from the Pacific Ocean is should bring more rain to Northern California beginning on Tuesday.

The heaviest rain is expected on Tuesday and Thursday, with a slight break and lighter amounts on Wednesday, according to the weather statement.

There also are chances of snow in elevations ranging from 3,500 feet in the south to 5,500 feet farther north on Tuesday, rising to between 5,500 and 7,500 feet elevation on Wednesday, when forecasters said warmer air will move in over the region.

The forecast expects some snow in the mountainous areas of northern Lake County, particularly in the Mendocino National Forest.

In the specific Lake County forecast, the county is expected to have chances of rain from Monday night through Friday night, with temperatures ranging from the low 30s at night into the high 40s during the day.

Lake County received a large amount of rain late Friday and early Saturday, according to National Weather Service observations.

The 24-hour rainfall totals ending at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, in inches, are as follows:

– County line: 0.88.
– Bear Canyon at Middletown: 1.89.
– Boggs Mountain: 1.55.
– Cobb Mountain: 1.97.
– Hidden Valley Lake: 0.82.
– Indian Valley Reservoir: 1.04.
– Jerusalem Grade near Middletown: 0.98.
– Kelseyville: 1.12.
– Lower Lake: 0.70.
– Mt. Konocti: 0.88.
– Putah Creek near Middletown: 0.63.
– Upper Lake: 1.70.
– Whispering Pines: 1.72.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn died Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Glenn, who served four terms as a U.S. senator from Ohio, was one of NASA's original seven Mercury astronauts. His flight on Friendship 7 on Feb. 20, 1962, showed the world that America was a serious contender in the space race with the Soviet Union. It also made Glenn an instant hero.

“When John Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas rocket in 1962, he lifted the hopes of a nation. And when his Friendship 7 spacecraft splashed down a few hours later, the first American to orbit the Earth reminded us that with courage and a spirit of discovery there's no limit to the heights we can reach together,” President Barack Obama said of Glenn's passing.

“With John's passing, our nation has lost an icon and Michelle and I have lost a friend.  John spent his life breaking barriers, from defending our freedom as a decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, to setting a transcontinental speed record, to becoming, at age 77, the oldest human to touch the stars.  John always had the right stuff, inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond – not just to visit, but to stay,” Obama added.

His mission of almost nine days on the space shuttle orbiter Discovery, launched Oct. 29, 1998, when he was 77, made him the oldest human to venture into space. On Discovery he participated in a series of tests on the aging process. The aging population was one focus of his work as a U.S. senator.

Glenn was described as "humble, funny, and generous" by Trevor Brown, dean of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University, in a statement joined by the Glenn family. "Even after leaving public life, he loved to meet with citizens, school children in particular.  He thrilled to music and had a weakness for chocolate." 

Glenn will always be remembered as the first American to orbit the Earth during those tentative, challenging, daring days when humans were just beginning to venture beyond the atmosphere that had nurtured them since the species began.

While Glenn's flight on Friendship 7 was a glorious national triumph, problems arose that could have spelled disaster. The first was a failure of the automatic control system.

A scheduled 30-minute test to determine whether Glenn could fly the capsule manually became a matter of life and death when the automatic system went out at the end of the first orbit.

"I went to manual control and continued in that mode during the second and third orbits, and during re-entry," Glenn recalled later. He had been confident he could do it.

"The malfunction just forced me to prove very rapidly what had been planned over a longer period of time."

Another problem seemed even more serious -- telemetry indicated the spacecraft's heat shield was loose. It seemed possible that Glenn and the spacecraft would be incinerated on re-entry. Much of the world held its breath.

Glenn left the retrorocket pack in place to steady the heat shield during re-entry. "It made for a very spectacular re-entry from where I was sitting," he said. Big chunks of the burning material came flying by the window.

He wasn't sure whether the flaming debris was the rocket pack or the heat shield breaking up. "Fortunately," he told an interviewer," it was the rocket pack -- or I wouldn't be answering these questions."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Glenn's legacy “is one of risk and accomplishment, of history created and duty to country carried out under great pressure with the whole world watching.”

Bolden added, “Glenn's extraordinary courage, intellect, patriotism and humanity were the hallmarks of a life of greatness. His missions have helped make possible everything our space program has since achieved and the human missions to an asteroid and Mars that we are striving toward now.

Glenn also was always focused on today's young people, who are tomorrow's leaders. He emphasized the importance of inspiring young people and advancing science, math and technology education, Bolden said.

“To me, there is no greater calling … If I can inspire young people to dedicate themselves to the good of mankind, I've accomplished something,” Glenn said.

From Ohio to orbit

John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. He attended primary and secondary schools in New Concord, Ohio. He received a bachelor of science degree in engineering from Muskingum College in New Concord.

Muskingum College is among nine colleges or universities that subsequently awarded him honorary doctoral degrees.

Glenn entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in March 1942. He graduated and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1943. After advanced training, he joined Marine Fighter Squadron 155 and spent a year flying F-4U fighters in the Marshall Islands. He flew 59 combat missions during World War II.

After the war, he was a member of Marine Fighter Squadron 218 on the North China patrol and served on Guam. From June 1948 to December 1950 he served as an instructor in advanced flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas. He then attended Amphibious Warfare Training at Quantico, Va.

In Korea he flew 63 missions with Marine Fighter Squadron 311. As an exchange pilot with the Air Force Glenn flew 27 missions in the F-86 Sabre. In the last nine days of fighting in Korea, Glenn shot down three MiGs in combat along the Yalu River.

Glenn attended Test Pilot School at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. After graduation, he was project officer on a number of aircraft. He was assigned to the Fighter Design Branch of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (now Bureau of Naval Weapons) in Washington from November 1956 to April 1959. During that time he also attended the University of Maryland.

In July 1957, while he was project officer of the F-8U Crusader, he set a transcontinental speed record from Los Angeles to New York -- 3 hours and 23 minutes. It was the first transcontinental flight to average supersonic speed.

Glenn accumulated nearly 9,000 hours of flying time, about 3,000 of it in jets.

After his selection as a Mercury astronaut, Glenn was assigned to the NASA Space Task Group at Langley, Va., in April 1959. The Space Task Group was moved to Houston and became part of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center in Houston) in 1962. Before his 4-hour, 55-minute flight in the Friendship 7 capsule, Glenn had served as backup pilot for astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space who flew on May 5, 1961, and to Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who followed Shepard on a suborbital flight of his own.

When astronauts were assigned to provide pilot input for the design and development of spacecraft, Glenn specialized in cockpit layout and control functioning, including some of the early designs for the Apollo Project.

Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on six occasions, and holds the Air Medal with 18 Clusters for his service during World War II and Korea. Glenn also received the Navy Unit Commendation for service in Korea, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the China Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy's astronaut Wings, the Marine Corps' Astronaut Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Glenn resigned as an astronaut on Jan. 16, 1964. He was promoted to colonel in October 1964 and retired from the Marine Corps on Jan. 1, 1965.

He became an executive with Royal Crown International, but took an active part in Ohio politics and environmental protection efforts. He won his Senate seat in 1974, carrying all 88 counties of Ohio. He was re-elected in 1980 with the largest margin in Ohio history.

Ohio returned him to the Senate for a third term in 1986, again with a substantial majority. In 1992 he was elected again, becoming the first popularly elected senator from his state to win four consecutive terms.

During his last term he was the ranking member of both the Governmental Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Air/Land Forces in the Senate Armed Services Committee. He also served on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Special Committee on Aging.

He was considered one of the Senate's leading experts on technical and scientific matters, and won wide respect for his work to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. He took pride in using his position on the Governmental Affairs Committee to root out waste in government and to clean up the nation's nuclear materials production plants.

In 1998, Glenn flew on the STS-95 Discovery shuttle flight, a 9-day mission during which the crew supported a variety of research payloads including deployment of the Spartan solar-observing spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, and Glenn's investigations on space flight and the aging process.

“The last of America's first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens. On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn,” President Obama said.