Kaleberg Archive for May 2004

We were out on the Spruce Railroad Trail today, and we couldn't help noticing that the mud is back. That and the salamanders. You have to keep your eyes open, or you'll step on one of the unique species of the Olympic Peninsula. These little lizards are a sort of red gold, and as you can see in the photograph, they rather blend in to the background. The rain brings them out and it brings out the slugs, so this is a great time to explore the trails of Olympic National Park.

On our way west to the trailhead, we heard a cautionary tale about feeding wild animals. We picked up some gravel at the quarry a bit off of 101, west of the Elwha. We're retail customers and drive a Honda Civic. Most of the folks here drive umpty ton gravel trucks, or diggers, or grinders. It's sort of a grown up Tonka paradise.

Anyway, we stopped in at the office to be sociable, and pay for our gravel, and we heard the story of cougar.

It had been a hard winter, and the cougar was about as thin as a housecat. The owner of the quarry had never seen a big cat so skinny, and having several hundred pounds of hamburger going stale in the freezer decided to feed the poor thing. Needless to say, he carried his pistol, and he kept his distance, but the cat went for the beef and not for him.

As the season progressed, the cougar put on some weight and and started to flesh out a bit. A few hundred pounds of hamburger will do that to beast, or man. There's a documentary on this that just came out, which says something about restating the obvious. Needless to say, having been fed, the cougar was much more energetic, and the owner of the quarry was figuring it was time for the creature to return to the wild.

Then, one day, the cougar dropped by a neighbor's place and went for the ducks and geese right on the front porch. The neighbor shot it. So, if you do come to the Olympic Peninsula, think twice before feeding the wild animals.

Keywords: animals, spruce railroad, salamander, elwha, slugs, trails, winter

05/23 - Storm King

We climbed Storm King today. We spent the last month dreading it. It is a brutal climb with a lot of slippery scree. Naturally, we can never make a head on assault. We have to work indirectly, so we drove off to Sol Duc to check out the trail to Deer Lake. As we neared Barnes Creek, we slammed on the brakes and swerved into the Storm King parking lot. Before we knew what had hit us we were at 450', passing the ramada where a youth group was lunching. Around 1200', as we were passing the little side spur to the alpine overlook, we regained consciousness and realized that we were going to make it. You'll find a couple of new snapshots on our Barnes Creek et al page.

Keywords: storm king, deer lake, sol duc

05/19 - Copper River Salmon Has Arrived

The Copper River salmon is in. We picked up a filet in Seattle and are going to grill it.

Also, we've been thinking about the old computer game of Dazzle Darts. It was one of those rather simple games, like Pong, that came out of the 1970s, except that Dazzle Darts seems to have vanished.

Keywords: food, fish, science, seattle, salmon

05/11 - Johnston Farms

Have we mentioned Johnston Farms? They are regulars at the Port Angeles Farmer's Market and have some really good vegetables. The pea shoots and salad greens are already coming in. We can hardly wait for their poblano peppers and have included a recipe for them in anticipation.

Keywords: farms, johnston farm, recipe

05/10 - Lake Crescent Cottage Update

We have updated our Lake Crescent Cottage website. The remodeling is moving along, and so is our website.

Keywords: lake crescent cottage, lake crescent

05/09 - Salmon Rollup

Here is another recipe we really like. This one is for a spicy, hearty salmon rollup made with bread crumbs and coriander seed. The sauce is sweet and sour, with honey and lime juice.

Keywords: food, salmon, recipe

05/08 - Pasta, Cauliflower, Parmesan & Pancetta

We made our old favorite, pasta, cauliflower, parmesan and pancetta today. Check out the pictures and the recipe. Did we mention capers? At Domaine Cliche this is famine food.

Keywords: food, recipe

05/02 - Kenner Girder and Panel Lamp

We've just introduced a new lighting option, The Kenner Girder and Panel Lamp. For those who don't remember, Kenner produced a building set starting back in the 1950s which let one build in the latest style. Gone were bricks and boards, or heaven forfend, logs. Modern buildings had steel frames and translucent panels. This building set, with its brilliant orange and blue panels captured this architectural style quite well, and the translucent panels in the set modulate the light to a pleasing glow.

Keywords: k'nex

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004