Blather
Cooking for Guys
Live to Camp
Camp to Live
Poetry
and Other Lies
Chuck Roast and Mushroom Gravy
With the weather gone to cold drizzle I find myself using the Crock Pot more and more. Once the food is in the slow cooker, it can be turned on low and ignored for a few hours. Well, it could be ignored if it didn't fill the entire house with savory aromas. Slow...
The Bombardier
The Bombardier is a drink inspired by the early days of military aviation, when the British airforce was still part of the Royal Navy. Pilots and their crew were issued a daily tot of rum, just like the sailors were. To stave off the cold on long sorties over No Man’s...
Pie Day: Mom’s Pies
Mom bakes all sorts of pies. Two of my favorites are her apple pie and her rhubarb pie. These are pretty straight forward fruit pie recipes, but they are consistently the best pies to be had. Tarting them up would only detract from their wholesome...
Hot Toddy
The hot toddy has long been a favorite cold weather libation around my house. Easy, steaming hot, packed with vitamin C, sweet, sour, and alcoholic, its just gotta be good for you! Substitute liquors, try different sweeteners, use any citrus you feel like using; it ...
Pieday: The Crust
With the holidays upon us, my thoughts naturally turn toward pie. That's not really true. I think about pie all the time, but on holidays and special occasions, my mother's pies are a traditional part of the celebration. Her pies are worthy of celebration in...
Bushcrafty
If you're not bringing a cocktail shaker you are doing it wrong. Bushcrafty: Two ounces Irish Whiskey, two ounces Shanky's Whip, one ounce filtered stream water, one-quarter lemon, one quarter lime-both squeezed and dropped into the cocktail shaker with a handful of...
A Bear Et My Kayak – Part 2
An Empty Camp ...
Zodi Shower
I've used solar camp showers and never been happy with trying to wash myself under the dribble of tepid water they provide. The water doesn't get hot enough, there isn't enough of it and there isn't enough pressure for a satisfying shower experience. The Zodi propane...
Halloween at Chanty Camp
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A Bear Et My Kayak – Part 1
Pistol Creek Longhouse June, 2022 It had been three years since I had set up my first big longhouse – enough time to forget what a pain in the ass it was and for it to sound like a lovely idea. Why not take a couple of weeks off, set up a forty-foot longhouse on...
Good Morning
4/25/26 5:00 38F (3.3C) Clear and calm. Stars dot the dark blue sky above. Birds are bursting with the morning gossip, vying to be heard over the loud rattle of orchard fans. Walter, still exhausted from yesterday's excursion, sprawls sleeping on the...
Good Morning
4/24/26 6:45 36F (2.2C) Clear, calm, and beautiful. I am surrounded by the thunder of orchard fans. Three ducks wheel overhead, twisting and turning, describing great arcs and figure eights as they fly through blue sky tinged with pink. Where are they...
Good Morning
4/23/26 6:45 42F (5.5C) A hint of a breeze stirs the leaves beneath a blue sky delicately laced with clouds. Birds are singing, dashing and gliding between the trees. Up on Willow Flat an orchard sprayer drones. Dogs are barking. The sun yawns and...
Good Morning
4/22/26 5:30 51F (10.5C) Light rain, breezy. There is a dark glow illuminating the gloom. A cacophony of birds fills the damp pewter dark of predawn with whistles and trills, chirps and fragments of melody. The jungle awakens. ...
Good Morning
4/21/26 6:30 51F (10.5C) Faint breeze, partly cloudy with rain predicted for later today. The baby chicks are in feathers and growing fast, the rabbits are putting on weight. I got some seeds in the ground yesterday, corn and pumpkin. We have starts...
