4-25-09
It was good to get back to camp so I could enjoy a little winter weather. There was a little cold snap and it got down to –9 below zero which was a little cool for my thinned out blood.
It has been a long cool start of spring. Actually there was about two inches of snow on the ground this morning when I got up. There have been some nice days and I have had a chance to do a little motorcycle riding with friends as well as by myself.
The doghouse has really pleased me on how well it takes the cold weather. I know now that it will not be a problem living here in the winter if I either want to or have to for some reason. I have been heating it with a little 120 volt electric heater. On real cold days but when the sun shines the cabin will get up to 80 degrees and I would open a window. On cold days with gray skies I would leave the heater on and it would keep it about 70 degrees. I did install a wood smoke stack but have not installed a wood stove yet. I will need a very small stove or I will have to have the window open when I have a fire in the stove. This cabin is super insulated and air tight so it is very easy to heat.
It sure is beautiful country here when the snow is fresh. This is looking toward the north east.
The Fat Dog with a little dusting of snow. I have not been riding when there is snow on the ground but have made a few trips to town and back with the temps in the low 30’s.
I got into making Pizzas with a dough recipe supplied by Anna who is down in Colombia. I have had a couple of nice visits with her by using Skype program on the computer. Skype lets you call a landline, cellphone or best is to just call the computer if they are on line. Computer to computer calls are free while calling the phone lines cost a few cents a minute. One time I talked with Anna on the computer she hooked up a video camera and I was able to see her as well as ‘walk’ around her apartment as she went around with her laptop.
I have been making lots of bread as well as small pizzas. I sure like the little pizzas as they are quick to make since I keep small batches of dough in the frig.
Here is a nice quick green chilies with red bell pepper. I am finally getting the hang of being able to get the darn things to slip off the peel and onto the pizza stone using corn meal.
I rotor tilled up a couple of spots this year. One spot is up in a little draw where cattle were fed when we had cattle here for the winter. It is a place that grows huge weeds and has a thick cover of well-composted manure. I am going to try to grow some dry land potatoes in that spot. If it rains I should get some spuds and if not, I am not out much in spud seed.
The other place I tilled is down near the big ditch and I will not plant that area this year but will try to keep it tilled this summer so it will keep the grass down. Hopefully next year I will be able to plant some corn and spuds there as I will be able to irrigate that garden from the ditch. It will have to be fenced for coons and maybe deer as well depending on what I grow there. I got my little Allis Chalmers Model CA up and running. This little tractor I used for planting corn as well as I have a nice cultivating rig for it. I still have all my potato planting and digging equipment and am looking forward to growing spuds again. I sure don’t want to do it as extensively as I used to do it but since I don’t have a root cellar now I cant store many.
I have been working out at the gym trying to loose a little weight as well as get back into some sort of shape. That sitting on my butt riding a motorcycle around Australia and eating fish and chips didn’t do my body a lot of good. I was starting to loose some weight until I got into cooking again. these little dudes have put me back to where I started on the weight scale. Oh, they are worth it. I made a pot of beef stew with yellow potatoes, carrots and onions. I thickened it up pretty good and stuffed it in a folded over crust of pizza dough. Oh, man they are wonderful. I like how they are going to be great for little traveling meals when I go for bike rides. These two are pretty big but ones about half that size are just perfect for a lunch meal. When I was in OZ they make a common meat pie and I really liked them but they were made with pie crust and wouldn’t travel well. these I think will do really well.
The guy I sold my little Oz dog to down in Toowoomba is starting a ride on a bike he had set up in England. It is a BMW R100R that he had transformed in to a R100 GS. I’ll post his website here and you can follow him along on his ride if you like. I think this is going to be a great ride through a lot of places that ‘normal’ people wouldn’t have the guts to travel. Dennis is a really nice personable guy and I am sure he will do well in all situations. He uses the name of Oz Dog for his blog……. I hope you enjoy his travels too…..Rx
http://www.offexploring.com/ozdog