Roaming the Southwest-ish

Our a annual summer trip.  It's usually taken with another couple, Aaron and Amy, friends we've known for a long time (man, we're getting old).  Like Amy said, every time there's a trip with Ed and Viv, we always walk far and carry a lot of stuff.  :D Well, this year is no different except for the location, we decided to spend some time around where our friends lived, santa fe, nm.  we headed out to the brazos (in brazos, nm) for some backcountry, second ascents.  unfortunately on the very first climb, i got hit by rock fall.  this made is a little hard to walk, given i got smashed on my toe.  didn't realize toes can generate a lot of blood.  i was two and a half pitches from the top and still had a 2000 ft descent to do.  needless to say, i got down....in the rain.

this brought us out of the brazos a day early and spent the next day wandering around southern colorado.  i needed a day to assess my toe, to see if i can walk, and to find gauze and other med stuff.  so we went through the town of pagosa springs, co (to hit up the hot springs, which i couldn't go into but there was great lounging around the pools.  byt the end of the day, it was determined that i can't put on a shoe, but i can hike to the South Colony Lakes (~5mi) with a light pack and sandals.  well, at least it was worth a shot.  ed, aaron and amy wanted to do the Prow on Kit Casron.  i figured, if i can make it to camp, then they can climb it.

the damage

the aftermath

So onward to the South Colony Lakes trail.  It'll be more work for the other three, but at least they'll get to climb Kit Carson.

bivy spot on the way to the climbing. (somewhere in the national forest)

aspens

wild flowers

Lo and behold...i made it back there.....

dusk at upper south colony lake

broken hand pass

The other three summited kit carson via the prow.  we hiked out and ended back at stana fe for the remain three days of our vacation.  we hung out, ate lots of food, climbed locally, and shot at sh!t.

from aaron and amy's garden.....
                     

Local crag

diablo canyon

ed on Ergo

Red Neck Day!!

Event #1:  Archery
   

and moving onto event #2:  target practice
   

      

notice the target.  that's me.  the first one to put a slug close to the bull's eye.  of course, we also practiced with a .22 rifle.  that's much easier.  i had a target where i put 8 out of 12 into the target with two on the bull and two really close to it.  alas,  there is no photo of it.  i think i'm better at distance and still targets.

that concluded out red neck day.  we didn't get to event #3....cutting down trees.  oh well.  we had chilis to roast (we were there at the beginning of chili season) and a plane to catch.  next time, we'll complete the trifecta.

roasting green chilis

While We Were Gone

I think the title of this post should really be "Squash Gone Wild"  but that's for another time.  we went on vacation for a little of a week and this is what we came home to.... garden that needed some discipline and harvesting.  the squash has pretty much plowed over the kale and chard.  i have no idea how they are doing under the squash canopy.  oh well?  one big mistake.  i shouldn't of planted the tomatoes so close together.  note to self.....they become big and unruly.  right now about eight unruly tomato plants are unaccessible.  well, lesson learned.  i'm sure there's fruit in there somewhere.  :D

The squash won

and the tomatoes

mind you, my DH is 6'5".  the tomatoes are up to his chest.  what's even more ridiculous is the size of the squash that came off it the squash plants...as big as his forearm.  i think we got some problem with the squash.  either that or genetics is at play and we're giving them too much water.  i dunno.  i think i'm going to buy F1 seeds for next year.  notice the okra in the background.  i guess one can grow southern fare in the north.

some of the bounty with the peppers

                     

of course that's just garden number 2.  the grape garden is a little subdued.  maybe it's because most of the tomatoes and squash went in a little later, or maybe that garden isn't as suitable for monster growth.  who knows.  anyway, we're getting mini grapes and boy do they pack some flavor!  can't wait for more!

     

these are the swenson reds that survived the winter.  they are fruiting nicely.  can't wait until the vines are nice and established!

Roasted Peach Salsa

I do have to say, this really started with Sara J.  yes, if you're reading this sara, i'm still making this salsa.  :D
this is a rehash from last year's post (http://ride-camera-rock.blogspot.com/2011/09/summer-that-waspart-ii.html)...with a correction...

                      

Roasted Peach Salsa (the correct version)..

30ish pounds of bruised tomatoes

5ish pounds of peaches

10 ish bell peppers

20 ish jalapeños

5 ish onions

salt

lime juice or vinegar

cilantro, chopped 

chop tomatoes, peaches, bell peppers in half (with skins on).  deseed (or not, depending on you're heat tolerance) the jalapenos and chop in half. put tomatoes, bell peppers and half the jalapeños on a roasting sheet.  chop the onions in quarters and toss in olive oil, put in roasting dish.  then roast everything, the onions below the other sheet, until the tomatoes, peppers, and peaches are kinda blacken.

put everything in a large pot (including the unroasted jalapenos). blend with immersion blender to desired consistency.  add chopped cilantro.  salt and vinegar to taste.

this year, the rough recipe yielded me 12 quarts.  for some reason the heat level wasn't there.  i think i may have to pickle some jalapeno peppers to add to the salsa later.

oh well....there is always the next batch (or the next year!)

Summer Bounty

Did somebody say canning?  yes, this year, the staples are back.  Canned tomatoes, pickled okra, pickled green beans, and roasted peach salsa are back on the list.  It started with the fruit.  peach, nectarines, apricots, and cherries!  Oh my!

starting with the fruit booty of the farmer's market, i wasn't sure if i was going to make more preserves.  i did with some strawberry and rhubarb, but that didn't really work out....again.  it's more like sauce than thick preserves.  oh well, then i rediscovered our food dehydrator.  i decided i was going to dry stone fruits this year.  a couple of farmer's market sessions of raking up the end-of-market booty....

slices of white nectarines on the drying rack

and that was good.  the peaches and apricots were already super sweet (given that they were the bruised ones).  once dried, it was like eating candy!  nature's candy!  now i just have to figure out a way to make it last for the rest of the year.....hmmm....gotta hide it from ed.

next came the early season tomatoes.....as of now, it hasn't started going off.  like seriously going off.  i'll have to wait a couple of weeks for that to happen.  perfect timing too.  we're out of two for the next two weekends.  but i couldn't resist starting up.  this time i used the heirloom variety of shady lady, the early birds of tomatoes.

tomatoes (shady ladys) getting ready for the jar

of course, one must take a break from standing in the kitchen and take a look around (not that the view from my kitchen suck)...

almost the view from the kitchen....more like the deck

the tree that was struck by lighten at the top of our hill behind the house

Summer Catch Up

ahhh....summer is half way through!  where the heck has time gone?  well, with att's screw up on my internet, it gave me time to catch up on some photos and making these post offline.  (that really means just writing this as a word document and then copy and pasting them into the editor from blogger....yes, i'm that technologically savvy.)

so first up on the docket....landscaping.....
we tore out some of the juniper that lined our house (the ones next to the driveway) and put in a few varieties of lavender (munstead, provence, hidcote, and blue cushion (i think)) .  there is hope that the bees will find it.  who knows.  right now the dried flowers smell really really good.

provence lavender

then comes the garden...
the heat really does wonders for growing things.  like unruly winter sqaush plants and a tomato jungle that i should of pruned.  i still need to prune the jungle...i need to find my machete.

              

and the peppers and the okra....

                        

and with all of that growth.....we need some grasshopper control.  these things can eat an entire plant away...
                        

yes, that would be ed....snipping away at the grasshoppers.  apparently it's really effective...

oh....and there's the food part of it.  the canning season has started and is almost under full swing!

Landscaping

yes...it's a never ending endeavor...really.... homeownership.  you want everything just right and yours. well, here it is.  besides the garden plots (it's a given....we must grow food...weird...but true).  ed has decided to extend the patio beyond the hot tub.  it'll make a great patio and a great are for the squirrels to dig and destroy.  for now...we have everything in place except for the pavers.  who knew those things would be pricy and hard to get....hmmm...soon we'll need more lounge chairs....

Summer House

With the rising temperature of summer here in the interior mountain region, ventilation is a must....FOR EVERYONE.  that includes me.  usually a hammock in the shade of the pine trees or a lounger on our deck works...oh wait....i'm talking about the bees...

opening up the entrance, adding an upper entrance, and rigging up a varro mite trap can serve as a way to vent the hive.  hopefully they won't "beard" outside the runway to keep cool.  (bearding is when they hang onto each other and forms something that looks like a beard)

beyond that addition for the summer, the bees are busy doing whatever they are doing....such as going in and out of the hive....and being busy.

now...where's that hammock?

the summer digs

The Eating Weekend

Not to say, there's no food where i live,  there's just not the food in the same quality and quantity here in the mountains as in the bay area.  yes, bay area folks...you are spoiled ROTTEN!  with that said...this is an eating weekend with lots of walking around.

hitting up the local eats in the inner sunset, heading out to the ferry building farmers market (which i have now dubbed the eating market), we had a good time walking around downtown and golden gate park.  of course we had to to the california academy of sciences to check out the denizens and the newish exhibit....all about earthquakes and australia and madagascar.  of course, when one brings up the land down under, images of kangaroos pop up.  unfortunately, they didn't have any of those on display, they did have ostrich chicks.  i guess there really no way of escaping.  the roos may just hop away and become the new deer of the bay area.

sunday = vino day....the mission of the day....pick up wine we bought last year...and to get some more wine for next year.  dry creek valley is my favorite place in the area.  a must go place for some peace, eating, and lounging.  so, with things to do and getaways this close...i better not catch any of you bay area folks complaining that there is no food and nothing to do....get out and find it!

ps...sara!!!  you better come with us next year!!!!

the chicks...

lemondrop....he's a big arse yellow snake that lives in an enclosure in the gift shop

preston's lilac trees!

lunch

yum!

Playtime

with the warm weather here, it's time to get out!  so we go higher to seek some cooler climate.  we end up at a local bouldering spot....saddle boulders.  i had the good fortune of running into Sonia. so we all got together and had some fun!!

Sonia, adrian, and ed

Adrian

of course, with bouldering...there will always be shenanigans...