Crabbing in Winchester Bay

We've been here about a week and we're having a very busy, but fun time. The guys have been going out faithfully at least twice a day pulling crab pots and keeping the bait fresh and have brought in nearly 90 Dungeoness Crab. It takes 15 minutes to steam a pot of 7-8 crab at a time, and then hours to pick the meat out of the shell. The guys do the work from the inflatable boat, I do the cooking of the crab, and the three women do the picking. It's a whole lot of work, but so worth every bit of it. So far we're freezing our catch . . . of course we pop a succulent piece in our mouths every now and then. Tomorrow I may start canning the rest of the crab we get since my freezer is getting full of crab and blueberries!

Life is good in Winchester Bay!

K and G checking the pots yesterday when it was beautiful
and sunny. Today was pea-soup-foggy all day. This picture
compliments of our friend, Padraic.

Half of this morning's catch . . . hot out of the steamer.

The three pickers working hard at keeping the shells out!

A small bowl full of freshly picked crab meat . . . yummmy!

Winchester Bay 2006

When we arrived last Thursday we were surprised to see so many RVers camped out here. We didn't get in the same area as last year and are parked in the "low-rent district." But we're still having lots of fun with our friends, Cecile and Gary (who were with us last year), and Jane and Russ (who haven't crabbed before so it's been fun showing them the ropes! Actually Janes doesn't "do" sea food of any kind but Russ does and he's lovin' it. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. The crabbing hasn't been as plentiful as last year, but we have brought in 14 so far. . . as I write this blog the men are out now to harvest the evening catch.

K and G ready for their first launching of the Zodiak,
and set the baited traps in place.

Checking the traps for keepers!

First steamed crab of the season.

C and I picking the meat out of the first batch
of steamed crab.

Here is Gary barbecuing fresh oysters.

Already for the barbecue sauce . . . I didn't think I was
going to like'em but was I every surprised. Delicious!
Especially the barbecue sauce!

Here we are having a great time.
Gary and Cecile seated, us on the left,
and Jane and Russ on the right.

Typical Winchester Bay sunset . . .
I stole this picture from my friend, Padraic.

Nothin' to it but to do it!

We're packing up to leave this little piece of heaven in Cascadia, Oregon. One of the things we do is empty the freezer. And you guessed it, there were lots of berries in there, especially blackberries . . . six gallons, in fact. So I spent all day Sunday making blackberry jam.

Six gallons of berries (one gallon is four quarts which is the same as eight pints so there were a total of 48 pints of berries) along with a whole lot of sugar made only 18 pints of jam. Because I don't like seeds in my jam I guess I lose a lot of the bulk of the berry. But with acres and acres of blackberries to pick, who cares? The jam is oh-so-good, if I do say so myself, and I don't get seeds caught in my teeth!

Six gallons of berries out of the freezer . . .

And into the pot with just a bit of water to get them cooking. . .

Berries starting to defrost and start cooking . . .

Once they are hot the juices seep out and go into the sieve
where the berries get crushed and the juices seep down
into the pot. Add the pectin and a bunch of sugar . . .

Distribute into the jars . . . after the "bath" in the
canning pot . . . Voila! Jam!
The peach jam is made from some wonderful
peaches we bought at a local farm stand.

A Spruced-Up Shop

K has been working real hard this last week getting his cabinets and shelving units finished for the shop end of the pole barn. It started when he received a copy of ShopNotes where they teach you how to make one cabinet and one shelf unit out of one sheet of 3/4" plywood. He bought two sheets to make his two sets.He cut the wood into the pieces he needed at the end of last summer, so it's fitting that he put them together at the end of this summer. They look great and he really needs them to store "stuff" that clutters up his workspace. Way to go, KFR!

Featured on the cover.

Drilling the holes for the shelf pegs.

Ready to be glued and screwed.

Waiting for doors.

Door hinges screwed in place.

That ought to be high enough from the counter.

Note how level they are hung!

Glad the job is done . . . and they're awesome!

Life is Good!

All Quilted Ready to Bind

Here it is back from the quilter. I think she did a good job. Wouldn't you love to have a machine to do that . . . what fun!

Life is good!

This Time It Worked!

This is what "Crow's Fence" is supposed to look like. Amazing how that happens when you use the quarter-inch-foot on your sewing machine. Anyhow, it looks quite different than the last one, don't 'cha think? So now all I have to do is get the batting together with some fabric for the back and it'll be a snuggly little quilt.

At this stage I can see that it's going to work this time.

I use the scraps to create the patchwork border!

Life is Good!

Summer in Stitches

This summer has been spent having a great time with my sewing machine. The last couple of days (before I have to get busy putting up blackberry jam) I decided to sew together a quilt-top, the pattern being "Crow's Fence." My book called this a quilt that can be put together quickly, being that it's a fairly simple pattern. Well . . . to make a long story short, I learned how very important that one-quarter-inch seam is. I thought my pressure foot was set for 1/4" so I sewed the 117 two-inch strips together in threes and fours . . . cut the sets down to size . . . and was supposed to end up with one set at 5 x 6 and the other at 6 x 5 . . . hmmmmm. . . didn't work out that way! You know why? Because my pressure foot was not as accurate as I thought. I should have put on the quarter-inch foot that I purchased last summer but figured I didn't need it—well, I did! I guess I could have trimmed the vertical strips to match the horizontals . . . but I was too lazy. I thought it would be easier to just rearrange the blocks and that's just what I did. Now I'll have to think up a good name for this pattern! It's actually not as bad as I thought it might be . . . I've gotten used to it now and like it. So I'll take it back to Coarsegold where I can stretch it to get it ready to quilt.

Oh well . . . Life is Good!

Gettin' Stuff Done

The last couple of days we've been busy finishing up things we've been meaning to do while in Oregon. I took a quilting class at a local quilt shop and learned the pattern you see in the placemats . . . then I adapted it to a pillow for the trailer.

And Safeway had some beautiful Coho Salmon filets on sale and we smoked two of them the other day. They were so good, and we shared so much of it with friends and neighbors (plus enjoyed a couple pieces for lunch) that we bought over six more pounds today while we were in town. Tonight we prepared the brine to marinate them in and tomorrow we'll be smoking the whole batch on two layers in our little smoker . . . and we'll have lots to share with our friends in Winchester Bay!

Ah . . . Life is Good!

Dinner in Cascadia

K went fishing today on Green Peter Lake. He loves fishing for Kokanee (land-locked Sockeye Salmon) and he came back with a BEAUTY! Barbecued on a nice hot grill for four minutes on each side, served with some nice sliced home-grown tomatoes, and whole wheat pasta tossed with freshly made pesto from our own basil growing in pots on our deck, and a nice glass of Chardonnay! Dinner fit for a King and his Queen!

Before

After . . .

Life is Good!