Gratuitous Dog Pictures

 

These pictures are mostly from last week. I've been taking so many 'dogs while skiing' pictures that I was not going to post them.  Too many dog pictures on the blog!

But it brings up an important point - dogs don't care if I take their picture.  My kids do care.  So there have been less and less kid pictures and more and more of the dogs.  It's not that I don't do things with the kids - I do.  But in the interests of keeping everybody happy I take less pictures of them - and only take pictures when I'm 'allowed' to do so.

Dog pictures are not easy because they really do not care.  They don't pose and you got to be quick if you want to catch them when they are positioned just right.  That said, moving forward I'll try and post less dog pictures.

Patrick

Powder Hounds

 

A week ago I thought I was done with cross country skiing for the year.  The snow line was up to 500 feet and all the south facing slopes were melted out.  And then a miracle happened - it got cold and started to snow.  There is now a foot of snow in my yard.  Whoooo hoooooo Winter Lives!

Yesterday, instead of downhill skiing, I decided to go cross country skiing with the dogs.  I knew the snow was too deep to take them downhill skiing.  But I figured the slower pace of cross country skiing, and with me breaking trail would make it good for the dogs.

It was still too deep.  On my skinny skis I only sunk in a foot or so.  But the dogs were post holing.  In places there was a hard layer under the snow and the dogs could roam a bit, but mostly they just followed directly in my trail. I think they still enjoyed it, but it was a serious doggy workout.  They slept hard in the car on the way home.

Patrick

Air Fried Halibut

 

I got an air fryer a couple of years ago and at first we just used it to make crispy potato wedges.  It did this very well.  So well in fact that my kids would no longer accept my normal oven fried potatoes.  Eventually I branched out a bit and we started to air fry chicken drumsticks, then wings, breasts, and even whole small chickens.  The air fryer REALLY does a good job with chicken.  Then came Brussel sprouts, pork chops and the flood was on.  It seemed the air fryer could do a good job cooking anything.

But fish?  I was a little skeptical about air fried fish.  Until I tried cooking halibut.  It came out amazing.  And I have done it a few times now.  I've learned that the biggest trick to good air fried halibut is to make sure that the halibut is totally thawed - partially frozen halibut needs to be cooked too long and dries out.

Anyway, there are numerous recipes on the internet and I found one that uses a dry rub on the halibut.  I adapted it to my uses.  Basically I put the halibut filet on a cutting board and lightly season with pepper and salt and then rub on a dry rub (taco seasoning even works well).  I leave it for a bit and preheat the air fryer at 350 for about 5 minutes.  The I spray the halibut on both side with oil (I use avocado oil spray) and put it in the air fryer tray.  Then I sprinkle panko bread crumbs on top - not too many - and set the air fryer for 8 minutes.  

I find the cooking time varies depending on the thickness of the filet.  7 minutes is generally not quite enough time, but over cooking the halibut is not good!  So I check with a fork at 7 minutes - if it almost flakes it is done. A tiny bit under done is good because it will continue to cook a bit out of the air fryer.  After 7 minutes I continue with 2 minute intervals until done - usually no more than 11 minutes total.  One does not need to flip the fish.

When done I put it on a plate and sprinkle a bit of lemon juice on top.  Then I gobble it up.  We've been eating a lot of halibut lately.

Patrick

Too deep for dogs

 

Finally we got some deep snow.  The top 3 pictures are from yesterday while the bottom 5 are from earlier in the week.  We've actually been getting new snow all week, but on Friday and Saturday we got 1-2 feet of new snow on the mountain.  Earlier in the week I could still take the dogs skiing and they could run along behind.  But yesterday they struggled.  

These photos do not show the true depth of the snow.  The dogs learned to stick the ski trails where the snow is packed down. So none of these photos show the dogs bogged down and buried up to their backs in snow.  Skiing down I had to stick close the 'uptrack' trails so that the dogs had a firm path to run on.  When I veered away from the trail I'd look back and see the dogs disappearing between bounds and they would quickly fall far, far behind.

Today I ski alone and the dogs get a walk in the park.

Patrick

Fixed Lenses

I have a couple of zoom lenses, but mostly I use fixed focal length 'prime' lenses.  With a fixed focal length I can't just stand in one place and zoom in and out to create my picture 'frame' composition.  But I find that in my mind's eye I know the 'frame' of each of my lenses, and that I see the landscape with that particular frame in mind.  So with each lens I take different pictures.

It is a good way of mixing things up.  Some days I go for wide angle landscapes, some days I go for close ups.  And on each of these days I mostly only take one type of picture.  I actually find that with my zoom lenses I mostly use them for their telephoto capabilities.  Anyway, you always read about how fixed 'prime' lenses are faster and have better picture quality etc, but I like them because they force me to look at what's 'out there' in a particular way.  Rather than a generalist I become a specialist, and I think I take better photos as a result.

Patrick

Finally some powder

 

This is why I did not take the doggies skiing with me yesterday.  I sort of figured that the new snow would be a little deep for them and that they would be post holing down low.  And I was right - what was sleet in town translated into 6-8 inches of new powder at the mid levels on the mountain.  Finally some new snow and powder skiing!

It was so good that I did 2 laps - point them and go snow.

And then when I got home I took the dogs on a long walk in Abercrombie Park.  

Patrick

More 'Doggie' Snow Conditions

 

This is a sort of before and after post - these are the 'before' pictures from this past weekend.  Later today I'll post the 'after' pictures from yesterday.  

Basically for the past month it's been pretty warm, the snow has slowly disappeared, and it has been 'doggie' snow conditions on the mountain.  With every storm it has been rain in town, and we've been happy just to get some new slush high up on the mountain.  Some nights it freezes on high and conditions have been pretty solid.  The doggies have been loving it.

You can still ski all the way to the road, but barely.

And then Sunday evening and Monday morning it rained and sleeted in town. On my way to work Monday morning I could see new snow on Pillar Mountain.  Finally a decent snow storm!  And a day not to take the dogs up the mountain to ski.

Patrick