Making a 12′ Drop Cloth Tipi
Making a tipi can be tedious; it involves sewing numerous strips of canvas together until you have a large enough piece to cut your pattern from. Buying a pre-made cover is expensive, for the same reason. For several years, Billy Maxwell has been telling me...
June 3rd, 2022
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Easter Longhouse.
We had family up for an Easter Bunny BBQ Saturday. It was the first gathering we'd hosted since The Contagion cast its shadow across the land. We had all been vaccinated but it still felt weird, invitng people, even family, into our home after two years of isolation....
Atomic Lighter – Rechargeable Plasma lighter
I bought this for a fly and camp outing last year. I wanted a reliable ignition source which was safe to carry on an airplane. This is also wind proof and really nice for cold weather, when butane lighters become unreliable. It recharges with a USB charger. I wrapped...
Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), have serrate leaves resembling mint, arranged opposite on a square stem. Nettles can grow well over 6 feet tall. They are common along streams and rivers and damp, fertile ground throughout the United States. Probably the most...
New Year’s Eve
12/31/25 4:30 34F (1C) Calm, hazy with the moon waxing gibbous, nearly full. Dave and Kel took Mom to Marchesi Vinyards for an end of the year tasting so Amy and I invited ourselves along. The temperature dropped with the sun but they have a firepit at each table so...
Good Morning
12/31/25 6:30 24F (-4.4C) The sky is blue, the ground is frozen. There is no wind. Home from California. The cold bites my fingers like a puppy. It's teeth are sharp. Ducks circle up from the weeds, heading out for a morning sortie. Dawn Patrol....
Good Morning
12/30/25 5:00 40F (4.4C) Calm, clear, and dark. Our flight leaves SFX around three. We are having dinner with the kniece in Potland before going home. ...
Good Morning
12/29/25 7:00 39F (3.9C) Calm and clear with a faint breeze out of the east. Monday morning in San Carlos. The whine of leaf blowers fills the air. After breakfast we walked from San Carlos to Lynne's house in Redwood City. Christmas decorations were...
Good Morning
12/28/25 6:30 41F (5.0C) Calm and clear, night still lingers dark. The moon, half full and waxing brightly into the wee hours, has set. Amy is asleep. I am enjoying the solitary peace of early morning. ...
Moussaka
The Food Stamp Gourmet by Wm. Brown has been out of print for years, but you can still find it on-line at a reasonable price. I have had my copy since the seventies; it contains some of my favorite recipes. Every so often, I pull it out and choose one of them....
Moussaka Hand Pie
I made moussaka for dinner last night and had some left-over filling. Today I got out the pie-irons and made moussaka hand pies for lunch. Forcing the Greek pita bread into the buttered pie irons, I spooned some tomato paste over the pita, I filled it with the...
Grandma Wade’s Mince Meat
Grandma Wade used to make mince meat pies for the holidays. She shared the recipe with Mom,and this delightfully sweet pie has been a treasured memory of mine for decades. The recipe is pretty labor intensive and contains your entire annual dietary allowance of fat in...
Chili and Corn-sticks
Chili and Corn-sticks I had Friday off. I intended to make dinner, but that required an amount of preparation I didn't manage to get around to. I spent the day changing the tire on the Triumph, staring off into space and generally procrastinating. Go figure. Amy got...
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...
