Thanksgiving into Christmas

Having left the chilly Seattle house under the watch of Maki and Jeff, I headed to the beach to enjoy a little warmth (oh, did I mention we're having furnace problems in Seattle ?).

The  beach house is definitely warm. The heating system needs to be fine tuned;  but it feels good. The big news is that the recent storms  and high tides took the huge log that was just off our ramp away - without a trace!

the tide taking it away

Interesting that over the many months that it was out front, the roots just went away. Or were they scavenged by  our daughter?.....

In its wake is a wave of pebbles. They are piled so high that I can step from the beach to our yard. So Brendan, with any luck we won't have to put in stairs.      :)

Yesterday morning I heard the gulls screeching and looked outside. A hawk had landed on a big log out front. It had what looked like a black bootie on its talon. As it fled, I realized the black thing was a little critter. It happened so fast I couldn't take a picture.

Happy to report that the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone.

Turkey, gravy,  the last of Jeff's potatoes from the garden (sorry honey), and some yummy roasted veggies from the other night.

So delicious!

for the foodies in my life!

The outdoor faucet covers are on and we're settling in for the winter.



Maki's Big Adventure Part 2

Last weekend our friends the Coans came up for a visit  to the new house. It was great to see them and catch up after many months. After  a delicious bowl of  Tortilla Soup, we decided to take a walk.

The day was cloudy, calm and chilly; but it felt good to be walking on the beach. As evening approached we headed north. To our great surprise Maki followed right along. I've never see him on the beach, so this was an amazing sight.  He trotted right alongside, occasionally hopping up and walking along a neighbor's seawall

or a piece of driftwood.

Maki's journey took him as far as the last house in the picture, at which point we were forced to turn around because it was getting dark.

Undeterred by barking dogs or shreiking herons, this crazy cat headed home right at our heels.

And didn't budge the entire following day!

The Wonders of Winter Crabbing

Well, not quite winter.  Last week a window of opportunity opened.

A big storm was brewing to the west with high winds and a lot of rain forecast for the weekend. But on Wednesday the sea was calm, the weather mild and winds down. I rowed out into the bay and dropped our crab pots, fingers crossed.

The following day was even nicer, time to bring in the haul!

We got five big crab; two were enormous!

As I shared a few tasty bits with our cat, Maki, I realized that the meat was much sweeter than any crab we have previously gotten. Besides tasty bits, these five crab provided us with

Thursday dinner - crab fettucine

Friday lunch - crab salad

Saturday appetizer - crab and artichoke dip recipe:

Sunday breakfast - crab omelets

In addition to all that, I froze a  pound of crabmeat and half of the artichoke dip!

We put the pots away as the barometer continued to drop. By Friday the clouds had come over and the winds were building. The lights flickered as I sat watching Ellen and picking crab.

Our first storm together in the new house.