Siblings on Snow

It was not easy but I got them both up to the top of the mountain - together and on skis.  Just like the ONE time in the past when I got them both up the mountain at the same time (click here for post), I had to carry their gear up to the snow.  But these days they are both using lightweight back country gear, and it was MUCH easier to carry.  AND best of all, I only had to carry it to the snow.  Once at the snow they put on their boots, clicked into the skis and climbed the rest of the way up the mountain on their own gear - whoooo hooooo!

This time the worst part was the sibling rivalry thing.  When one is happy the other is not kind of thing.  And on the way up there were a few times when I was wondering what I had been thinking to take them both up at the same time.  I was thinking, 'Maybe this is why I had only did this once'.  But once on top and ready to go, they both got happy at once and even let me take a picture of them together.

All was good for the ski down.  They are also so much better at skiing than when we last did this back in 2016.  Looking back at the pictures it was all wedge turns and tired legs.  I remember they were exhausted at the bottom of the run.  Not this time - these days they rip.  Wow!  But they have come a long way!

And just maybe I'll take them both up again together at the same time.
Patrick

On the flatter sections Stuey liked to skate - and asked for skis that have a free heel!

More skate skiing from Stuey - could we have a telemark skier?

Doggies

Yesterday evening I took the dog pack for a walk and tried to get a group picture.  It proved very difficult!  Doggies just do not pose for photos.  I could get one dog to pose for a short bit, but getting all three to stop for a pose proved almost impossible.  I had to be very fast with the camera and try and catch them in that nanosecond of time when their poses happened to align.  Mostly though it was blurry dogs, or one dog turned away, or eyes closed etc.

But I kept at it and took a lot pictures.  These are the best ones that I came up with.  Patrick

My Sauerkraut

This is my own sauerkraut recipe.  It is actually sort of a cross between kimchi and sauerkraut.  More spicy than the usual sauerkraut, but not so hard core as full on smelly kimchi.  Because it is so red I call it 'blood chi'.  This stuff does not stink up the whole refrigerator.

I have a crock that I make big batches of sauerkraut in and I highly recommend it.  I can make a lot at once and then I take some out after 3 days that is still 'crunchy' - the next lot after a couple more days is a little more cooked and so on.  I take it all out after about a week and a half, and find it keeps in the fridge for a couple of week in covered glass containers.

Anyway, I cut up the ingredients as finely as  I can and follow the usual sauerkraut instructions that are easily found on line.  Adding in layers, massaging by hand and punching down with the fist.  The key part is the proportions of my ingredients. I use:

2 red cabbages
6 smallish beets - peeled (I've used 3 big beets before)
3 big shallots (much more subtle than garlic!)
2-3 tablespoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sriracha powder
1 or 2 carrots (optional - and the batch shown above does not have carrots in it)

I cut up a cabbage and add it to the crock, then some beets and a shallot, tablespoon of salt and a little sriracha powder.  Then I massage and punch it for a bit before adding another layer.  At the end I   try and mix it all up and punch it all down hard.  Then I push the rocks down on top until they are under the red juice.  I am very careful to scrape all the bits on the crock sides down into the water.  Anything above the water can mold!  Sometime I have had to add a little bit of water to cover the stones, but I can usually push them down and have them stay under water.  Sometimes you need to wait an hour or so before pushing the rocks down one final time.  Cover and that's it!
Patrick

Garden Update

These 2 Kale over-wintered and seem to be doing great

Yesterday I planted my garden.  Well all the seeds anyway - I still have to do the potato beds.  I planted the garlic last fall, and the Kale self-seeded with a few plants also surviving the winter.  In the last week I prepped the beds - changed the dirt, added compost, got rid of weeds.  And then yesterday I planted beets, salad greens, and carrots.  This year I am keeping it super simple!  Beets, Carrots, Salad, Kale and Potatoes - can't get much more simple than that.

This week I will finish with the potato beds.  I already prepped one potato bed.  Then I'll go to the beach and fill up 5 gallon buckets with peat from the high tide line.  Last year it took 2 loads to get all that I needed.  I plant the potatoes directly into the peat and cover with dirt.  I still have almost 50 pounds of potatoes from last year so I will be able to replant with what I already have on hand.

Pretty soon I'll be weeding, thinning and mowing the lawn!  Patrick

Raspberries leafing out

All but a few of the garlic cloves I planted survived the winter

Abercrombie in the Rain

Yesterday it poured.  In the last 24 hours we got 2 inches of precipitation.  Warm rain - ughhhhhh.  I got soaked while skiing after work on the mountain.  Then I got home, showered to warm up, dried off, and did the paper route with Nora.  Then it was time to get soaked again when I took the dogs for their walk in Abercrombie.  Totally soaked to the bone twice in one day.

In the park the warm rain accentuated the green.  I realized that the park has gotten super green under the trees.  I go for a walk there every day so I had not noticed the slow incremental change from winter green to spring green.  Since it is a spruce forest with moss it is green under the canopy year round.  But in the spring the new shoots on the salmonberry and blueberry bushes add a warmer, lighter green than the usual dark winter green.

Also all the brown is disappearing, and pretty soon the understory will be totally foliated, and you will no longer be able to see the ground or very far through the trees.  Right now the woods are at their best because it is still open like a cathedral and yet super green.  Pretty soon the devilsclub plants with leaf out and fill in the understory.  Patrick

Dale in Motion

Dale and I usually ski alone.  Hence neither of us has very many pictures of ourselves skiing.  Dale told me that the only photo he has of himself snowboarding is from a few years ago when we both went for a ski up behind Bells Flats (click here for post).  Well on Sunday I certainly changed that!  I took lots of pictures of Dale in motion on his snowboard.  I think I took a few good ones too!

Sharatin with People

On Saturday I skied up and down Sharatin alone while on Sunday I went with Dale.  It was a perfect day.  It seemed like there were always clouds and darkness on the horizon, but the sun kept its light on on us and the snow was perfectly soft.  The blue, blue ocean seemed like it was right there next to us.  Really spectacular.

And skiing with someone else along was a totally different experience.  We found a bowl on the way up and did some laps before continuing on to the summit.  Then of course there was the 3 mile long run to the bottom of the snow on the way home.

With someone else along I also had someone to put into my landscape pictures!  And I think they are dramatically better than the day before's as a result.  People in a landscape give it perspective and add an element of drama.  Much, much better.

Patrick