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...
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...
Good Afternoon
4/21/26 65F Calm, overcast and humid. It sprinkled a little this morning, but not enough to prevent me from mowing. After lunch I returned the keg. Since I was in the neighborhood, I dropped by the range to burn up some black powder. While there, some hungry deer...
Good Morning
4/20/26 7:00 49F (9.4C) Windless, overcast. It is a dull, gray morning. A dove coos monotonously. The birds seem to bicker, their low, trilling chatter discordant and without melody. Even Walter's barking lacks enthusiasm. Good morning? ...
Good Morning
4/19/26 6:30 45F (7.2C) Calm, temperate, mostly cloudy. Thin, grey clouds shift above me. Song birds trill. A duck flys low overhead. Somewhere a woodpecker is tapping. A dove coos. A turkey calls nearby. A shotgun blast. Good morning. ...
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...
Lamb Kabobs
Lamb Kabobs This recipe pairs the subtle fruitiness of fresh chanterelles with the sweetness of dried apricots. When you arrange the mushrooms on the skewers, sandwich them between a dried apricot and a chunk of lamb, so the mushroom absorbs the flavor of the...
Flip
Originally common in Colonial taverns and waterfront dives, flip is basically a beer hot toddy. Andy tells me it does nothing to improve the flavor of beer and I haven’t found anyone who actually likes it, but the drink is steeped in history and it is fun to...
Simple Chanterelles with Shallots and Spices
I wrapped the cooked chanterelles in foil and placed them behind the cylinders of my Triumph to keep them warm on my ride to town. When I got to work, I topped a plate of biscuits and gravy from the cafeteria with wild...
