Good thing my wife likes to do these things too. Below are three pastimes that have been keeping us busy.
(The above picture is the wine press' purple-stained wood from about 20 years of grape squeezing)
Mapmaking
This one has been fun. It started with a big, blank wall in our backyard that needed something. We thought "It needs Big Art." But big art is expensive - so I made a big Washington map, and now everyone seems to want one! I've made a bunch so far - next up is Hawaii!
You can see more on my flickr site.
WA in our backyard.
Everyone's recent favorite - the ocean.
CA for some friends in LA.
Another WA at home in our friend's backyard.
Michigan!
Winemaking
People in the Pacific Northwest take their wine seriously. There are basement winemakers and winemaking clubs everywhere. Adrienne and I were invited to join one of these, so we are making a Syrah. So far, we've crushed the grapes, fermented them, pressed them, and filtered the wine into a stainless steel container. In six months, it will go into the oak barrel, where it will stay for a year. Then it gets bottled and is ready to drink six months later!
First step is fermentation. This means crushing the grapes, then combining the juice and the skins and letting the yeasts do their thing. Then you siphon off the juice and press the skins to get the remaining juice out.
Into the stainless barrel it goes so all of the solids can settle out.
Winemaker's hand!
Celebrating the end of a day with pizza and wine on the "sidewalk cafe."
Our friends Simon and Faith picked their Sauvignon blanc grapes for us to make into wine!
The harvest.
My feet in the Sauvignon banc grapes, mashin' em up I Love Lucy style.
Mushroom Hunting
You know about this pastime - it's one that both Adrienne and I love, and we wait patiently for Fall to return every year when these delectable fungi grow. We headed out to the Hood Canal recently for an overnighter, hunting mushrooms by day and cooking them by night. We had another great harvest - lots of lobster mushrooms, a good haul of chanterelles, and we even found two giant porcinis.
Three mushroom hunters with the Hood Canal in the background
Adrienne making her way through the woods
Tristan making his way through the woods
A friendly little white mushroom
The Hood Canal
The Mouse's House mushroom
Beautiful chanterelles
Coral mushrooms
A young Amoneita, with a hungry slug nearby
Our haul
Beauties!
Prepped for dinner
Post-dinner shenanigans
An afternoon walk on the Hood Canal
Oysters are abundant on the seashore!
Gotta give the rope swing a try!
Flyin!
Madrona berries
Tristan!
A and J!
Here is the porcini mushroom cut open - meaty!
Here is a chanterelle that's been turned into a lobster mushroom!
