Smoked Salmon

Today with the help of our good neighbor Robert, Roy learned how to smoke salmon.
The fish are scaled and filleted and cut into large chunks then placed in brine for about 24 hours.
The smoker is fired up, the fish is placed on racks and the vigil begins. The fire must be watched. The idea is to create smoke, not flame so more alder wood is carefully added as needed over a six to seven hour period. Yes, it took the better part of the day, but look at the end result!



.....and it smells and tastes better than it looks. Some of it will be canned (another culinary adventure for us) and some vacuum sealed to be enjoyed as an appetizer. Mm mm!

Mystery Bug

We've seen some really weird-looking bugs out here, but this one sent me running for my camera and I just had to show him off. Wild stripes!
No idea what kind of beetle this is but I'm curious to find out.
Will post any info I come across.

Landscaping Part 2

It sure would be nice to open a door, step out and not be in sand, dirt or mud or walking on a packing skid sidewalk. And we finally did it. We brought back our favorite concrete guys to form up, pour and stamp the patio and walkway around the house.





Above, forms in place, earth compacted and soaked down and house wrapped in plastic to protect the siding from splashing ..and here comes the first truck full of concrete.





The concrete is moved wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load, "sloshed and jiggled around" (my terminology, sorry :-) and then smoothed out and expansion joints cut in. The concrete is also sloped slightly so that water will drain off. We do get the occasional rain shower here after all...





The concrete starts to harden and the stamps are applied, turning and rotating as they go so that the slate-like pattern never repeats. Color is sprayed on and allowed to dry and a sealer is applied. We also get a personal touch: fossil like impressions of cedar and sword fern.



Here's the final product.
The texture and color suit our house to a "T"...
and after a year we have a walkway to the front door!

The last part of landscaping will be about plants and a planting scheme. There are so many trees, shrubs and perennials that I have yet to learn about and I want low maintenance gardens, so this will be a long process tackling one part of the yard at a time. Stay tuned.

Return of the Pinks

The pinks have returned for their spawning run up the Nile and other creeks up and down the coast. Some have paused to wait in the pool at the back of our lot, but not in the same numbers as last year. They wait for a rain to raise the water level and ease their journey up the creek to side channels where they can spawn and will eventually die, their deteriorating bodies providing nourishment for all manner of aquatic life and ultimately their hatching eggs. I took a few pictures one day when the sun was on the pool. It feels a little like watching fish in an aquarium.





This picture looks up the creek and shows the struggle facing the pinks as they fight their way against the current, rocks and other debris. Then there are the predators:
seals, whales and fishermen at the mouth of the creek and up the creek: bears, eagles, ravens, otters, sea gulls and even dogs We watched a Labrador Retriever escape her owner, plunge into the creek and chase the fish in all directions, some of them back downstream losing all the ground they had struggled so hard to make. Sad. The dog was eventually leashed quite a way downstream.

We are still in awe of this natural drama and Roy and I spend time every day, taking a coffee or lunch down to the creek to sit for a while and watch it play out.

Landscaping: Part 1

It's time to get the landscaping started. This is the last leg of our house building adventure. Landscaping and gardens are works in progress that take years to mature but we're finally taking the first steps. Our house foundation is 3 feet above the highest point on the bank of the creek so Phase 1 is the filling of holes and the grading of the earth around the house. Truckloads of soil and 14 yards of mulch made a huge difference behind the the workshop and carport. "Before" and "Afters" below:




At the back of the house less soil was needed but pit run (a sand and gravel mixture used for good compaction) was required to prepare for the concrete walkway outside the sliding doors.



We plan to plant the back with sword ferns, salal, false lily of the valley, vanilla leaf, Oregon grape, rhododendrons and vine maples, all native and found in the woods around the creek.
We hope to bring the natural beauty of the woods right up to the back patio. Planting will start in the fall when the temperature cools and the rains start, giving the plants a better chance.



On the street side the driveway is being moved to the left so that it aligns with the carport and will no longer cut the front yard in half. A large pile of earth in front of the carport needs to be moved over to extend the berm in front of the house. "Before" is above, "After" is below.



Moving the driveway meant digging up and moving the culvert and since we were doing that we decided to reshape our rather deep ditch, make it a little shallower, easier to maintain and a little less scary.





We leave Landscaping Part 1 with some frightening shots... who's operating the excavator?



Landscaping part 2 will be the hardscaping - our favorite concrete guys return to pour patios.

Berry Season

It's black berry season. Himalayan blackberries grow wild on the sides of the road and in vacant lots and fields. Free for the picking but beware, the canes can be as thick as your finger and the thorns are vicious. If you wade into a patch - good luck getting back out!


Thankfully the berries are so plentiful that it's not necessary to risk life and limb to get them. Roy and I went picking just down the street where they grow in the ditch.



So what do you do with a bucket of sweet, juicy berries? Make a pie, what else? Delicious!