A Day Spent on the Water
My friend, Joe Castaldi, built a beautiful, sixteen foot gaff-rigged Melonseed Skiff from the original plans. He sent word he was planning to launch her for a maiden voyage down at the Hood River Marina, so I showed up yesterday, bright and early to...
Well, That Was Dumb.
My last week before I retired, I decided to ride the moto to work. People expected it of me and I enjoy the ride. It was December, with temperatures down around 15f (-9.4c). I suited up and went out to the garage. The bike had been plugged into a tender, so the...
Good Afternoon
5/27/25 3:30 80f (26.6c) Clear sky, warm breeze. Mike and I went up the mountain to have a look around. Found coral mushrooms, shaggy manes, and a handful of morels at between 3000 and 4000' under mixed conifers. ...
Mardingtop 25L Backpack M6347A
For years my EDC was a Wolfman tankbag. When I was still working, I kept it filled with maps and tools and fuses for my moto, emergency kit, knife, a roll of T.P. and my lunch. I could leave straight from work for the woods when the notion took me. When that bag wore...
Voyagers
Having discovered Disappearing Lake was full and the road free of snow, four of us loaded up our boats and headed into the woods for an adventure. Five of us, if you count Walter Dawg, and really, you must. He has been an integral member of the team from day...
Good Morning
7/6/26 6:00 54F (12.2C) A thin gauze of clouds stretches across the pale blue sky. The waning moon keeps a jaybird company at the top of the birch. We set the timer up on our sprinklers yesterday and this morning was the test. After a brief struggle to get the...
Good Morning
7/5/26 6:00 53F (11.6C) Tufts of clouds dot a windless, blue sky. A waning moon hangs above the birch, refusing to surrender to the day. Good morning. ...
Good Morning
7/4/26 7:00 60F (15.5C) Calm air, clear, blue sky. It may be precarious, in this polarized society, when jingoism and patriotism are so easily confused, to express reservation about elevating the flag to a position of worship, but I feel I must. Don't get me...
Good Morning
7/3/26 6:45 57F (13.8C) Blue sky with a few scattered clouds. No wind. Happy Dependence Day. ...
Good Morning
7/2/26 5:30 52F (11C) No wind. The sky is filled with mares tails. In the distance a lone sprayer drones. Now another one, closer this time, joins in an orchard sprayer duet. Birds sing, unbothered by the whine. Walter barks a bit, then lies down. The clouds...
Pork Roast with Morel Gravy
This was a slow cooker recipe I adapted to the Dutch Oven. You can use any mushrooms and any large hunk of pork. Ingredients 3-4 pound pork roast 4 large cloves of garlic, minced 1 large white onion peeled and cubed 3-4 cups morels, if you can get them 2...
Peep In a Puddle
1 slightly stale peep 3 tbs. cocoa 1/4 cup peppermint schnapps 1/4 cup Irish cream boiling water In a mug combine 3 tbs. cocoa, 1/4 cup peppermint schnapps, and 1/4 cup Irish cream. Fill with boiling water and stir well. Top with a peep.
Rusty Nail – Praise & Treats
It has been an unseasonably dry winter. Up until Friday, when it started to snow. It has been snowing all weekend. Sunday morning it cleared, revealing a sparkling winter wonderland. With no pressing need to go anywhere, most people elected to stay home, off the...
BBQ Sauce
I made this sauce for the rabbits at the last Bunny BBQ. I cut up and brined the rabbits for 9 hours, then rinsed and boiled them for 10 minutes. They were painted with BBQ sauce and frozen until the day before the party. I thawed them Friday, and put the meat in...
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....
