Steam under a dish cloth for a few minutes...
These are filled with pepper jack-- a healthy vegetarian recipe! ha ha.
On to the batter. Separate the eggs and whip the whites.
Fold in carefully so it stays nice and fluffy.
Now, here comes the messy part. Coat the peppers in flour before dipping in the goopy batter.
Fried in a generous amount of fresh sunflower seed oil, probably the most expensive ingredient in this recipe.
Their team, the Methow Valley "Killer Whales," dominated the regional meets this summer. They compete with Okanagan, Brewster and Omak. All of these towns, including Twisp, have outdoor seasonal pools, but Twisp is in dire need of a new one.
The Wagner Pool at the city park is 50 years old; it leaks, the boilers break down, etc. The Friends of the Pool volunteer group manage to keep it going on a wing and a prayer, but everyone worries about a permanent closure.
The pool is an essential part of community life in the summer. When school is out, kids just don't have many recreational opportunities. Not to mention, surrounded by cold lakes and fast running rivers, an essential place for kids to learn to swim.
Everyone is in agreement that the Twisp pool needs to be replaced, but not how to pay for it. We don't vote in Twisp, but there's a measure on the ballot in November to create a special taxing district to support a new indoor aquatics center. This is a very ambitious plan. Pass or fail, I wish them luck. Just a spanking new outdoor pool would be terrific.
Well, July is wrapping up. Have you noticed it's already a touch darker in the morning?
Have a good weekend.
A view of the skyline from the West Seattle water taxi yesterday, under a sparkling blue sky. No wonder the tourists fall in love with Seattle on summer days like that. Please come back in February. Ha ha.
The ugly old viaduct was torn down in 2019, and the waterfront is undergoing a massive project to create a greenbelt with walking and biking boulevards. Above is a new pocket park close to Pioneer Square and the main ferry terminal (also undergoing restoration.) A touch of nature that gives actual beach access to Elliot Bay for the first time.
Eventually, the waterfront will look like this...
So what was I doing, far from home turf? I met up with a friend for lunch yesterday, something we've been planning for a long time. My Uber driver (aka John) gave me a ride downtown, then I took the water taxi back to West Seattle. Then hopped on a free shuttle to The Junction and walked the mile home from there. All of that transportation for the grand total of $2.50 (senior discount.) There are still a few bargains in Seattle if you know where to look.
Hopefully the walk home burned off a few calories. This is an authentic "khachapuri" from the Skalka Bakery on Spring Street. A massive bread boat baked to order and filled with cheese, butter, soft egg and in this case, vegetable ragu.
The idea is to break off pieces of the hot bread and dip it in gooey filling. It is a very popular dish in Georgia (that other Georgia) served in restaurants and street food. Talk about stick-to-your-ribs.
Our apple and plum trees are so laden with fruit the branches are hanging down with the weight. This is always a mystery, why some years produce such a bonanza. This past spring was cold and wet, which usually means fewer pollinators when the trees bloom. Go figure.
Anyway, we cut off some of the plum branches hanging over the sidewalk to reduce temptation. A waste of fruit, but we have more than we need. The last thing we want is people climbing on the new fence to get at it-- this has happened before.
The little sprinkle of rain was nice, but our yard is still dry as dust. Washington has the driest conditions in almost 130 years and they issued a drought advisory for the entire state.
The Methow River is considerably below normal for this time of year, flowing below the 10th percentile. In fact, the river has been running low since the end of May, which was exceptionally hot, melting the mountain snow all at once in that rather thrilling gusher. Everything in the foreground of this photo was under deep running water.
As I've said before, remarkable how the shoreline was basically unchanged when it subsided, except for a fresh layer of sand.
Unless you're a Washington State small cherry grower and most likely losing money, despite the record breaking crop. I bought 6 pounds of cherries for $6 at Lone Pine yesterday, a jaw-dropping price, especially for Rainiers.
A number of factors came together, creating a perfect storm for growers, including the timing of the California and Washington cherry crops (them late, us early) leading to a lack of skilled pickers moving north with the harvest.
Anyway, Click here for the local story. Talk about a heart-breaking crop. But their loss is our gain and we've been gobbling them up as fast as possible.
So, back in Seattle. It actually rained for a bit last night, not enough to water anything, but what a beautiful sound and it wet down the dust. Speaking of which, everything is covered with it, inside and out, from the field construction project down the street. When I closed the window last night, could have written my name on the sill. Ugh.
Since I'm here for a while, might as well make the best use of my time. There isn't a single thing in the Twisp house I didn't make a thoughtful decision to take over there. No more, no less that we need. Refreshing, compared to 40 years of random accumulated living in this old house-- while it's cozy and cluttered with nice things, what a pain to keep clean.
The garden is already transitioning to fall cleanup mode from the hot, dry summer.
The large windows frame a view of the mountains as you wait for the room to darken and the screen to descend. There's popcorn and the usual concessions, along with craft beer and wine, cushy reclining seats and plenty of elbow room. What's not to like?
Anyway, isn't it nice when a movie exceeds your expectations. Barbie? Really? It was delightful, and everyone laughed through the entire thing-- a clever plot and excellent acting. After that, we all went out for pizza at at East 20, another Winthrop landmark.
So that ends this visit. We're packing up early and getting out of Dodge before all that heavy equipment comes to life.
The stage is all set for the city of Twisp to start a major utility project. They're replacing some main sewer lines, which as you can imagine, requires a huge excavation on the streets involved. The heavy equipment has been showing up in front of people's houses all week, a disconcerting sight in this quiet backwater neighborhood. Enough big toys to tear the town down, which is how it will probably look for a while.
Anyway, the project is scheduled to start on Monday morning. It will take a couple of weeks just to install the lines. After that, the streets get graded and repaved, another major project, so we're looking at fall until the dust settles. In the end, a good thing to walk or bike down the road again without falling in a pot hole. Not to mention, toilets reliably flushing. But there goes the quiet summer in this part of town.
John is driving over this morning, and we're both leaving Monday morning, right before the project gets started. Getting in and out of the driveway will be challenging for a while. I won't be back for a few weeks anyway, because the family has a vacation planned in early August and I'll keep busy with other things in Seattle.
Today the girls have another swim meet, but right here at the town pool. Yea. Another busy (and hot) day shaping up.
Meanwhile, at the ice cream parlor in Winthrop. It's very hot here, almost 100 today and tomorrow.
Nova and Maya were both in several events. I remember watching them and their friends at swim team practice just 3 years ago, when they still looked like little kids, flailing around trying to learn the butterfly. With all that excellent coaching and determination, they've already become powerful, athletic swimmers.
And what happened to the awkward years? At 13, we were still pimply and puny. The 14-year old girls here look like small glowing beauty queens, confident even in their bathing suits. It must be the healthy lifestyle. The 9th grade boys are already lanky young men. But please don't grow up too, too fast. We're not ready.
Anyway, what a fun community vibe, with everyone cheering on the teams. So glad I went. Although we were all tired, it was a beautiful drive home, still light at 9 pm with the North Cascades glowing purple and gold in the distance.
The problem is, all those old stumps and roots continue to sprout like crazy. Nothing is more persistent than cottonwood, and in a few years we would be totally overgrown and the river view would become a tree view.
The last two summers, I've been picking away at it with my lady-like hand pruners, which is pretty silly. The valley is full of "tree control" companies. So maybe next year I'll have someone out. Unlike Seattle, you don't need a permit here to prune your own trees.
That healthy young cottonwood tree the beaver cut down for no apparent reason just disappeared. Maybe someone threw it in the river?
A mini cold front blew through yesterday, a red flag windy day, but so far not hearing of any new wildfires, fingers crossed. It also brought the temperature back down into the comfortable 80's today.
The days pass quickly, especially the lovely mornings which I hate to waste staring at a computer screen. I'm not doing much except driving the girls to this and that, which I enjoy because it's one time we get to talk. They are very busy as you world expect with their friends and activities. Tonight, we're all going to a swim meet in Okanagan, about an hour away.
I'm in Twisp this week, looking out at a transformed river from just two months ago, when the raging brown water carried entire trees past the front window. The view changed now to happy people in inner tubes floating peacefully by in this hot weather.
When the flood subsided in early June, we found that instead of washing away precious shoreline, that exceptionally high spring run-off deposited more beneficial sand.
Another gift we didn't realize at the time was a sprinkling of Showy Milkweed seeds that sprouted like magic on the sandy beach. It grows around the Valley, but I've never seen it on our property.
Showy Milkweed is especially beloved by butterflies, and indeed the little patch of flowers is swarming with Papilio rutulus, a spectacular butterfly commonly known as the Western Tiger Swallowtail.
They were oblivious to everything but the flowers as I sat watching yesterday, taking these pictures with the iPhone's miraculous camera. Out of nowhere, a magical butterfly garden appeared.
And also loved by our friends the bees.
I sat there contemplating how close I came to pulling out these new "weeds" when they first appeared on the beach. Fortunately, I looked it up first on my handy plant identification app, which described the importance of Showy Milkweed to butterfly survival.
Easy to see why certain varieties are milkweed are sought after garden plants.
We're really thrilled with it, of course, helps that the old one looked pretty bad by comparison. And I don't miss the lichen forests. And the squirrels are already using it as their elevated highway. We're the envy of the neighborhood, for a little while.
This beautiful cedar will eventually weather to grey, or could be stained with a transparent color. Or clear. Or not. The decisions don’t need to made until next spring. We'll consult with our son-in-law, the expert painter.
Yesterday I was chatting with one of sub-contractors, and he was interested in helping us rebuild the old deck as a weekend project. So another good thing from this job. Unfortunately, no chance at all to communicate with the hard working Ukrainians, although I brought them donuts from Safeway, the universal language of friendship.
You probably noticed those crystal blue skies in all the pictures this week. We’re having one of the nicest stretches of Seattle summer weather I can remember.
Ho-hum, day after day with high temps in the comfortable mid-70's. It hasn't rained in about a month. The rest of the country is either being baked alive or flooded. As usual, our Northwest weather acts completely contrary-- perfect here when it's miserable other places, and then vice versa when our turn rolls around.
Lots of progress made, and the radio changed over to country western yesterday. Hey, what better way for our Ukrainian friends to pick up some good old American English?
So all that's left for today are the two arches and the "window top." Pictures of that tomorrow when everything is complete. The only problem with this upgrade is now it makes the old deck look even worse. Well, one major project at a time. Next summer.
The new fence is drawing lots of curious interest and people dropping by to chat and admire. Our visible corner is good advertising for Rain City Fence Company, and it helps that the job site is professional and neat. Not to mention, hard workers on full show.
I sometimes complain about the social isolation here, but the reality is our house is somewhat of a neighborhood landmark and so are we I guess, having lived here for so long. Everyone knows the "elderly" couple on the corner. We've watched our friend's children grow up and then come back with their own kids.
It's 6:45 and the crew just pulled up. To be continued...
We're feeling a bit exposed to the world, but the project is coming along quickly. In one day, they demolished the old fence, set the new fence posts and hauled away the debris. Now the hundreds of people who walk by here daily can finally get a good look at our poor dried up backyard!
We have a Ukrainian crew, two strong young men, both obviously experienced with building materials. And extremely hard working. They started yesterday morning before 7 and worked straight through until almost 4. We never saw them leave the site, or for that matter, take a sitting break.
No cheerful, loud Hispanic music on this job! Serious-sounding Ukrainian? talk radio playing softly in the background. I would love to hear their stories, but would have to rely on Google translate. They don't speak much English and too busy for chit-chat anyway.
That's about all the news, other than some Nana bragging in order. Maya is having a great season on swim team and came in first in her age group for girl's freestyle. And looking at the meet results, almost 2 seconds ahead of the fastest 10 year old boy. Go Maya.
That's about all the news from Seattle. Oh yes, the All-Star Game is being played here tonight, for the first time since 2001. A big deal that dominated our local news all week.
The first All-Star game was played in Chicago in 1933.
Trees and flowers get their nutrients from soil and rain, but lichen rely only on the atmosphere. The many benefits of lichen include a food source and habitat for animals, insects and birds. They are rich in nutrients, including anti-cancer compounds. People consume lichen in some parts of the world.
Lichens don't harm the surface they attach to. They are also very beautiful, truly like mini forests viewed up close. You're looking at plain old wood rot above, not caused by the lichen that grew there over many years.
