July 2007August 2007 September 2007

Down the garden path

08/31 - Barbara Teufert Update

Barbara Teufert has been back at her kiln again firing up her fantastic ceramics. Her latest is a garden and garden paths. We've had to update her web page, and we've added a few other things, including a second vine covered castle.

Keywords: art

08/31 - Obstruction Point

Obstruction Point Road is dusty but open. There is still time to explore the high country. It has been a strange summer though. The lupines are still blooming, even as some foliage starts turning its autumn crimson. As we write this, a light rain is falling in Port Angeles, and we are sure that the unusual wet weather is one reason the high country flowers have been so spectacular and long lasting this year.

Some fall color is coming in

There are still lupines in bloom

Still some snow, even in late August

Keywords: autumn, flowers, high country, obstruction point

08/24 - Our Review of Alder Wood Bistro

We promised to post our review of the Alder Wood Bistro as soon as we could figure out how to spell their name correctly. (It's "Alder Wood", not "Alderwood"). If you saw our earlier post, you have probably gathered that we liked the place. Read our rave review for more details.

Keywords: restaurants, alder wood bistro

08/23 - Hurricane Hill Flowers

As we have noted before, this has been a wonderful year for the wildflowers in the high country. Hurricane Hill is still in full bloom. As you can see, there are even freshly blooming lupines, and, if you can believe it, mushrooms. The soil is usually so dry this time of year that most flowers are withered, but this year has been so moist that even the mushrooms are out. The corn lilies are out as well. They are on that side spur off the Hurricane Hill trail that heads down to the Elwha Ranger Station. There were also a couple of other flowers of note including the eerie looking "Japanese witches" we show here. They look like the three witches in Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, his retelling of Macbeth. Also looking somber were these other stalks, just coming into bloom. They look like traditional Victorian mourning colors. They'd be something in Paramatta silk.

Late season lupines

Actual mushrooms

Corn lilies in bloom

Japanese witches

Victorian mourning colors

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, victoria

08/23 - Alderwood Bistro

We've just come back from the Alderwood Bistro, and we have to give it a rave. We'll try and get our review posted in the next day or two, but right here we'll note that the pizzas are fantastic, with good, crisp crusts, and a clear mixing of strong, well balanced flavors. The moussaka was excellent, as good as, or better than the one at Molyvos, with a good lamb flavor, no lamb fat, and a great balance of eggplant and cinnamon flavors. They are right in the heart of Sequim, so we'll be heading in to Sequim a whole lot more often.

The outdoor dining room at the bistro

Keywords: restaurants

08/21 - New K'Nex Lighting Option

Over the years, Kaleberg Symbionts has earned a reputation for producing the finest, most intelligently design K'Nex based light options. Our ground breaking Promenade lamp set the standard for fine K'Nex lighting design. Now, Kaleberg Symbionts is proud to announce a new lighting option, a new kinetic, dimmable, shelf mounted, small format lamp which we have named One Tree. It is a simpler design than Promenade, but the "L" shaped light filter works with the single rotating K'Nex tree to provide a new level of light, and a new level of symbiotic design.

Keywords: k'nex, art

08/17 - Great Sunrise

Don't ask us why we were up so early, but we do have some nice looking sunrises around here.

Keywords: atmosphere, port angeles

08/17 - Farmers' Market Update

We've added three new vendors to our Port Angeles Farmers' Market page:
  • The Family Farm - Along with the usual vegetables, they have oriental green beans, broad flat romano beans, and New Zealand spinach.
  • Rick's Organic Produce - They have great looking romaine, beets, garlic and more is coming.
  • Elwha Apiary - Wonderful honey and honey based products.

Insert a picture here

Keywords: farms, food, farmers' market

08/16 - Best Late Alpine Flower Season Ever

This has been an unusual summer. Usually the alpine blossoms on Klahane Ridge are getting a bit peaked by now, but this year the blossoming is going strong. These are lupines, seemingly in their prime.

Late lupines on Klahane Ridge

Keywords: klahane ridge, flowers


A late season salamander

08/14 - Late Season Salamanders

We often see Olympic torrent salamanders on the Spruce Railroad Trail on Lake Crescent, but we usually see them in the spring. Here's proof that we are having a wetter summer than usual. We saw a late season salamander out on the trail just the other day.

Keywords: lake crescent, salamander, spring, spruce railroad

08/10 - The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center: A True Northwestern Rain Forest Gallery

The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is an unusual art gallery. Most of the exhibits are shown in a natural Northwestern temperate rain forest. If you are tired of finding mushrooms, mountain beaver, trilliums and salamanders on your rain forest walks, come here and enjoy the sense of light and play in this unusual outdoor museum.

Welcome to the labyrinth

Keywords: art, port angeles, salamander, trillium


The bridge has been repaired

08/08 - Lake Angeles Trail Bridge Repaired

Back in June we noted that the bridge over the little stream near the start of the Lake Angeles Trail had been damaged. Well, the bridge has been repaired, and there are signs of other work having been done to keep the trail in shape. Thank you National Park Service, especially the folks at Olympic National Park.

Keywords: lake angeles

08/05 - Black Douglas Cod - A Northwestern Treat

We'll admit that isn't the best picture there, but we have discovered a great way to prepare black cod. Black cod is an oily fish, and there is a temptation to blast it with flavor. We often marinate it in mirin and soy sauce, but this time we took a more subtle approach. We marinated a two pound filet overnight in two or three tablespoons of Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau de Vie, a quarter teaspoon of wasabi powder, a quarter teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper and two pinches of sea salt. We stared roasting the fish in the oven, but we wanted to render the fat so we popped it in a frying pan until it was nicely flakey and just starting to brown.

This dish was suggested by a dish we had at Coupage, a Korean fusion restaurant in Seattle. They served arctic char marinated in fir eau de vie, and it was quite good. This dish has a slightly stronger flavor, and the light green notes of the fir buds come across as rather bright and fruity. No, it doesn't taste like wood pulp.

You might want to check out Clear Creek Distillery, the folks who make the eau de vie, or check out the Washington State Liquor Board for availability.

Not the best picture, but it sure tastes good.

Keywords: fish, seattle


The view from our table

08/04 - Rover's Summer of 2007

Rover's, home of the chef in the hat, is as good as ever which means that it is quite spectacular. Among the high points:
  • smoked duck with a green olive tapenade
  • a ripe red tomato with bucheron goat cheese - It's tomato season people, hint, hint.
  • salmon with fava beans
  • soft shelled crab with mussels
  • lobster with corn kernels - Was this a tribute to the late Jean Louis Palladin?
  • lamb medallions with flageolet and a grilled onion
We aren't usually dessert people, but we have to mention the sublimely tart and creamy lime panna cotta and the crunchy napoleon-like bitter chocolate praline pastry. We've been big fans of Rover's for a while now as you can tell from our review. It is expensive, but Thierry Rautureau is a genius, and Rover's is one of those personal restaurants where a meal is like a performance rather than simple sustenance.

Keywords: restaurants, seattle, salmon


Cute little baby seal

08/01 - Dungeness Spit

We were out on Dungeness Spit today. Low tide was around 11:30, so we got an early start. We really didn't intend to walk all the way out to the New Dungeness Light, but the day was so bright, the air so clear and the water so blue that we just kept on going. Still, we didn't make up our minds until the three mile marker, with only a mile and a half to go.

Around the one mile point, we saw a large seal splashing about, breaching like a whale, and otherwise putting on a spectacular show, but the real charmer was the baby seal we saw on the beach on our way back. We also saw a bald eagle perched on a post, and the terns were having one of their raucous sabbaths.

There has been serious erosion out near the lighthouse. In the past, we have approached the lighthouse across the even beach, but today there is a long row of wooden pilings lining the beach, and a steep sand clip up to the lighthouse level. We assume that the posts were part of the ground work done to provide a stable area for building the lighthouse and setting up its grounds. It pays to explore. There is something new every time.

Perfectly parallel waves

The Dungeness palisade

Dungeness Spit scene

The lighthouse and the mountains

Keywords: animals, dungeness, dungeness spit

July 2007August 2007 September 2007