.... Karen's cousin Lauri got quoted in an op/ed piece in The Seattle Times newspaper here on Wednesday. Her insights into the Presidential Election can be found in the penultimate paragraph.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008328191_opin30susan.html
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Driveway demolition!
Here's our poor innocent driveway, unaware of the destruction about to be wrought upon it. It's just too huge for our needs - there's room for four massive American cars, and we only have two...
We hired in some young guys to do the dastardly deed. First they used a concrete saw to mark out the area we wanted ripped up, then got the jackhammers out to break it up. Unfortunately, the driveway had been built to last, with wire mesh reinforcement that turned it into a serious endeavour.
Still, two days and three trailers full of concrete later, we have the bare beginnings of our new garden, and still two parking spots for our brace of wonky autos. More pics to follow as we cut down swathes of bamboo and eventually buy topsoil and start planting!
We hired in some young guys to do the dastardly deed. First they used a concrete saw to mark out the area we wanted ripped up, then got the jackhammers out to break it up. Unfortunately, the driveway had been built to last, with wire mesh reinforcement that turned it into a serious endeavour.
Still, two days and three trailers full of concrete later, we have the bare beginnings of our new garden, and still two parking spots for our brace of wonky autos. More pics to follow as we cut down swathes of bamboo and eventually buy topsoil and start planting!
Bainbridge Island cycle
While Karen was listening to oompah bands and downing steins of beer in Germany, I took myself off to Bainbridge Island for the day on Saturday for a bike ride through the autumn foliage.
It's the venue each year for a ride called 'the Chilly Hilly' and while the day was fresh and sunny, the hills were every bit as steep as I'd heard - massive roller-coaster roads up and down the island. 
There was a lovely stretch by the Sound, looking back to Seattle and over to the Olympic Peninsula, including this old fort, guarding the approach to Bremerton. A great day out...
It's the venue each year for a ride called 'the Chilly Hilly' and while the day was fresh and sunny, the hills were every bit as steep as I'd heard - massive roller-coaster roads up and down the island. 
There was a lovely stretch by the Sound, looking back to Seattle and over to the Olympic Peninsula, including this old fort, guarding the approach to Bremerton. A great day out...
Monday, October 13, 2008
Scorpion Mountain (not as scary as it sounds)
On Saturday we took Chippy out to the North Cascades for a hike. A lovely drive along Highway 2, then forest roads up in to the new Wild Sky Wilderness - the last 7 miles along a single-lane gravel road up to 3600 feet. Our 25-year old biodiesel Merc was not enjoying it as much as we were!
The walk started in glorious autumn sunshine, with birds and chipmunks around...
But as we gained height, we started to see patches of snow around...
The temperature dropped...
And before long, we were trudging through deep snow! A really fantastic hike along Johnson Ridge to Scorpion Mountain (none seen) - a razor-edge ridge with vertiginous drops on either side. Very calm and isolated, with just a few other hikers all day. Superb views and a tasty lunch on top before we headed home.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Fake Iraq story was published yesterday
In the Sunday Times, under the title 'Fighting the insurgents in Baghdad USA'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article4873489.ece
"...Since March 2003, more than 4,100 US soldiers have been killed and over 30,000 wounded in a war the army simply wasn’t prepared for. Suicide bombs, IEDs and snipers wrought havoc in regiments that were ill equipped for urban warfare. Civilians suffered too, as troops with little understanding of local languages and culture sometimes adopted heavy-handed tactics.
The solution? Create a fake Iraq where soldiers could learn and make mistakes without adding to the casualty figures. And so the idea of the “Iraq simulation” was born – 13 typical Iraqi (and Afghan) villages scattered across the Mojave desert at Fort Irwin. The villages would offer troops a range of realistic training scenarios, from foot patrols to clearing underground caves..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article4873489.ece
"...Since March 2003, more than 4,100 US soldiers have been killed and over 30,000 wounded in a war the army simply wasn’t prepared for. Suicide bombs, IEDs and snipers wrought havoc in regiments that were ill equipped for urban warfare. Civilians suffered too, as troops with little understanding of local languages and culture sometimes adopted heavy-handed tactics.
The solution? Create a fake Iraq where soldiers could learn and make mistakes without adding to the casualty figures. And so the idea of the “Iraq simulation” was born – 13 typical Iraqi (and Afghan) villages scattered across the Mojave desert at Fort Irwin. The villages would offer troops a range of realistic training scenarios, from foot patrols to clearing underground caves..."
Oo arr! Making zider on Vashon...
On Saturday, we took the ferry over to Vashon island with Kurt and Ginger (our very first houseguests) for Trika's annual cider-making party on her parent's farm. Before you get excited, that's American cider, which just means cloudy apple juice. Although we did smarten it up with some bourbon as the day wore on...
Here's Trika co-ordinating the delivery of about half the apples we picked from the orchard. A great variety of green ones, red ones, pears and a few rotten-ish ones too. Didn't matter - gave them a wash then fed them through the apple masher.
Here we are simultaneously crushing the apples (with an electric motor) and then winding that handle (me) to press the juice.
The raw juice looked pretty murky, so we gave it a couple of sieves and strains before bottling it. We managed to make about 30 gallons in the end!
Karen and I slept out under the trees in a tent. A beautiful night if it hadn't been for all the geese honking around us at daybreak, and then the Harms zum Spreckel's crazy giant Schnauzer trying to join us in the tent shortly after.
Here's the end result. Gallons of rapidly fermenting, totally unpasteurised apple juice - delicious!
Almost as delicious, an Obama cupcake ("it tastes of hope!") that we devoured in the after-cider party.
Here's Trika co-ordinating the delivery of about half the apples we picked from the orchard. A great variety of green ones, red ones, pears and a few rotten-ish ones too. Didn't matter - gave them a wash then fed them through the apple masher.
Here we are simultaneously crushing the apples (with an electric motor) and then winding that handle (me) to press the juice.
The raw juice looked pretty murky, so we gave it a couple of sieves and strains before bottling it. We managed to make about 30 gallons in the end!
Karen and I slept out under the trees in a tent. A beautiful night if it hadn't been for all the geese honking around us at daybreak, and then the Harms zum Spreckel's crazy giant Schnauzer trying to join us in the tent shortly after.
Here's the end result. Gallons of rapidly fermenting, totally unpasteurised apple juice - delicious!
Almost as delicious, an Obama cupcake ("it tastes of hope!") that we devoured in the after-cider party.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Here's a headline that made me laugh
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008199151_bricks24.html
It's from the Seattle Times, one of our two daily newspapers - great for tech news and stories about charming candle shops, not so hot on international events.
It's from the Seattle Times, one of our two daily newspapers - great for tech news and stories about charming candle shops, not so hot on international events.
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