My concept of distance has changed since moving from Dallas where it used to take 20-30 minutes to get to our most convenient haunts.
Island Eats: Noshing on noodles
Biology lessons on the trail
The woods are full of food and I’m just starting to learn a little about foraging in the Pacific Northwest. In the spring there’s nettles, dandelion and sumac and in the damp fall and winter: mushrooms.
Chickens in the garden
Fall has arrived with its rainy vengeance and I’m beginning to pull a regular harvest of what remains in the garden.
This week I focused on the beets and carrots. Well, with the amount we planted, I’ll be focusing on them every week, but I’m not complaining.
What, you mean I have to eat rainbow carrots and beets from my garden each week? Yes please.
Chicken math explained
Chicken math is well known among those who raise these birds. For most of us, something happens after you’ve watched your brand new chicks grow to pullets. The amount of chickens you intend to get doesn’t seem to be enough.
Harvesting the grapes
It seems as though I blinked and summer disappeared. Fall has arrived and that means harvesting all the hard work put in over the last few months.
Before digging up our own crop for this week’s dinner, we volunteered with Whidbey Island Winery to assist in harvesting their Siegerrebe and Angevine grapes out at French Road Farm. It was therapeutic work after sitting in front of a computer all week.
Sound Goals: A mile in Puget Sound
As my bare feet touched the water I was comforted that my 7 mm wetsuit and cap may be enough to keep me warm during my first open water swim in Puget Sound. The water temperature today was 56 degrees, but I didn’t retract from the cold. I look down at Sophia and Kristi’s feet as we enter the water. They have neoprene boots. I chose not to purchase them because I worried it would be more equipment to adjust.
Thankfully Saratoga Passage today was glass. Just seeing the calm conditions alleviated some of my anxiety from earlier.
Lined up with the others for the Whidbey Adventure Swim we all adjusted to the cold. Brief chats revealed swimmers came from all over the country and Canada for this U.S. Master Swim event. I’m completely out of my league here, but my goal this year was to swim a mile comfortably in the Sound by the end of the summer. Today I would try to swim 1.2.
Sound Goals: Prepping to swim Saratoga Passage
Prior to moving here I had some goals for myself: live healthier, hike, eat local, acquire outdoor hobbies to help that quest to live healthy….you get the idea.
After moving here, I signed up for an open water event in Lake Washington. I joined the Master Swim group here, trained and completed the course. It was amazing, but it fostered a new goal: swim one mile in the Sound comfortably by this summer.
Continue reading Sound Goals: Prepping to swim Saratoga Passage
life in the sound 