Horse Mountain

There are so many wonderful things about living in beautiful Humboldt county. This week we explored Horse Mountain to give the pups a chance to play in the snow. Horse Mountain is a short distance from Arcata, east on the 299. So close, that you can see the waves breaking on the coast below! (the ocean is on the horizon-->)

It was a beautiful day mostly sunny and mild.
The snow was fresh, but wet.
Drew rode his snowboard down and hiked up with the dogs following on the way down and leading on the way up.
Then Drew fixed a jump that had been started and we watched him fly off that.

The dogs had the most fun I have ever seen them have together. Get ready for the photo montage:

Harvest

Yummy! It is harvest season up here and I finally got my first sungold tomato (not shown, but it was sweet) and my first yellow crook neck squash! It may look small, but it's mature and tasty... the plant itself is miniature due to the lack of space. (There is also a large squash plant that will be done soon as well). I pulled out the first target beet, rings of red and white flesh and on the back of the beet there was a small red beet. Both were delicious. The late cilantro has really taken off. And our new artichoke plant started producing. This is the first of four or more; we'll see if we get to them before the aphids. We have already harvest four or five artichokes from our year old plant; but it has gone to flower since we lost our battle with the aphids.

For dinner I steamed the beets the squash and some purple potatoes from the Ed Farm CSA down the street. I chopped cilantro and basil and mixed all together with a cider vinegar dressing..... Surprisingly good! We also had steamed artichoke with tartar sauce (out of goddess dressing- our favorite dipper for the chokes) and tri-tip from the tri-tip guy. YUMMY!!!

I can't wait until the next bounty!

The Fourth on Strawberry Rock

As long as I have lived in Humboldt I have heard of hikes to Strawberry Rock. A few years ago some one pointed out where Strawberry Rock sticks out of the hill on the way to Trinidad. Today is the first time I hiked it. It was a beautiful stroll through amazing trees, a rock quarry, and fog. The wind kept the fog rolling, giving us false hope that it would clear leaving us with blue skies when we reached the top. The fog bank is thick today, and we didn't have such luck. It was a beautiful walk (hike: 2ish miles up up up and down) And I can't wait to do it again, when the sky is clear so we can see the amazing view.

a walk in my garden

Actually it's not big enough to walk through, but you can walk along side it! What a sight to see when I got home. The broccoli and cauliflower that we planted in December had finally produced. The broccoli was different than usual. Each leaf had produced a small head of broccoli, instead of one big head off the center stem. I harvested the good ones (and they were good!) and then left some of the plants to produce more (the didn't) or flower to make seeds? I've never saved broccoli seeds before I 'll let you know if it works out.


The Cauliflower--- that is my pride and joy... just harvested the one with the most full sun of the 4 we planted. Look at this beauty, just like in the stores! This is a cheddar cauliflower, hence the lovely yellow color. It was delicious! Nice spicy kick to it. I love to eat cauliflower the way Malia's mom makes it: Slather it with mayo and mustard after it's lightly steamed. Then cover with cheese (I like cheddar and pepper jack cheese) and broil until the cheese get's slightly crisp. It is amazing every time, but with home grown veggies it is out of this world!!!!

first week in paradise

and I am LOVING it!!!!

We have been busy seeing the beauty of the Island of Kauai. And soaking up the sun.
When we first got here the weather was unbelievable for like 4 days straight. The ocean was sooo calm. Like glass. We went snorkeling at Tunnels Reef (shown in the self portrait) with the famous Rhino Rock that begins the Na Pali Coast and is the literal End of the Road. Underwater there is a faint clicking noise from the shrimp that mine canyons in the coral to grow and harvest algae in.

Hanalei Bay was as smooth as drew had ever seen.
This is the pier on our first trip to the bay.







We hiked past the rhino rock and walked Kalau trail to Hanakapia Beach. On the trail we passed a group of locals that had swam from the end of the road to the beach and were running the 2 miles back barefoot. When we where almost to the beach we saw the warning sign.... 78 drownings or so. I only went in the ocean to my knees when we made it back to the beach from the 4 mile (round trip) walk to the falls! We also made friends with a couple from Tennessee and walked with them from the beach up to the magnificent waterfall. The water fall trail was lush forrest with huge mango trees, bamboo, guava trees, and many flowering plants that I don't know their names. Hawaiians inhabited this valley until recently and we saw evidence of their presence along the way... most noticable was a large stone fire place left in a bamboo grove.
Back to the waterfall: An epic 100 pluse foot drop over a sheer cliff into a deep pool which drained into a rock stream and down into the ocean. The cliff side surrounding the waterfall had tiny ferns growing from the wet rocks.

More adventures to share..... but next time or this will never get published

wwwWilburrrr HOT SPRINGS!

Nestled on an 1800 acre preserve. Beautiful spring hills of green grass and happy animals. The hotel and springs were in use for 100+ years. It was so hot! We opted to soak instead of hike, but here is what we saw as we drove through the hills: beauty of life:

The Enchanting Forest

The Manila Dunes are a magical place where the forest meets the beach. It is our closest ocean beach to Arcata, but you have to hike if you want to see the ocean. The sand has swooped in to bury the beautiful trees, but the forest lives on. The dunes have made lush canyons overgrown with mosses and other vegetation. It has a mysterious vibe.The hike we went on begins next to the gun club entrance, but that's Humboldt for ya. We wind our way through trees over small hills, through swampy marsh ponds, and emerge here:The view is epic. The Dunes stretch out for miles and the ocean fills the rest of the horizon. Here we play Frisbee with the dogs. That fluffy white tale belongs to Liberty, the new addition to our family. Eeka has become quite the Frisbee catching champion.


Today we also had a new encounter; a snake at the beach! Who would have thought?! Certainly not me, but Eeka discovered a rustling in the underbrush. It's a small snake, but it still freaked me out a bit, so Drew did the honors and captured it on my camera to share with ya'll.