This year was great for pears. We picked a little over 300 lbs in 2 evenings. They have been in the house now for a little over 2 weeks, and have ripened up just perfectly. This year we've decided to dehydrate many of them, as time has been strapped due to some house remodeling, woodcutting, fruit collecting… you can make yourself as busy as you want! Anyhow… Out of the many fruit trees around this old place we bought, there are about 10 pear trees. They are all Bartlet as far as we can tell, however, one tree had possibly a different type of pear that was really small. We did pick around 25 or so pears off of it. Here's a picture: 

Drying the pears is the easiest process for sure. It is actually my favorite because when I get home from work, the entire house smells just wonderful. Dried Pears and Pear butter make excellent gifts too. A good friend of mine sent me some bananas he dried from his farm in Kauai. They were the best dried bananas I have ever had, and I like dried bananas.

Now someone might ask; "what are the essential tools of the pear drying and canning trade?" While some might not ask, I will share with you what is used anyways. (Skip this section if you already know.) You for sure need a dehydrator, we like the Excalibur dehydrator. An apple/pear corer, a couple large pots, big knife, spatula or slickapot, food mill, and loads time. It's worth it though. A lot of the time you can find trees in town that are just dropping fruit everywhere, ask the owners if you can have it, and enjoy some free dried, buttered, sauced, fruit.

Tags: butter, dried, fruit, pear, processing

Since December we have had a plan to head up to Alaska during the running of the reds (Sockeye). My buddy owns a cabin near Soldotna on the Kenia river. It is the spot! 7 out of the 9 days it rained. Which was a nice change from our east side Northern California climate. We get about 7" a year.

Every morning we'd wake up and hang out down on the river. Some folks in our group fished most of the days we were there, but didn't catch much. The one day I was looking forward to going fishing for a King, happened to be the day after the commercial fishermen had been out… so our guide friend, Ryan, said the fishing was lousy. It was dumping rain that day anyhow, not that I mind since I had a rain proof outfit, but giving Ryan a day off is nice too.

We took a day and headed down to Homer. That place is wonderful. My wife's brother in law is the architect of the library in Homer, so we had to check it out. If you go there, I hope it is raining, which it probably will be, and you have to check out the large gutter falls. You'll know it when you see it. We took a drive down the spit to do the "shopping" thing with everyone. Had some fish and chips. My sister got a Salty Dog sweater. Had some coffee… etc… it's nice to walk around down there. The view from the spit is amazing. As we were driving out of town, we remembered we were supposed to check out the Two Sisters bakery. My sister got a big 'ole chocolate thing, my wife a hunk of bread, and mom and I got a couple loaves for the cabin. Nice place, good bread, groovy atmosphere. Over all, Homer is really beautiful.

On our way back to Soldotna from Homer, we stopped and checked out the Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik. Ninilchik would be a quiet town to live in I bet.

We got back to the cabin and had a bigger dinner than we should have, but hey, we're on vacation right? My buddies wife is a great cook. She made some type of coconut deep fired salmon with some of the fresh fish he'd caught dip netting a few days before. I had thought of moving to Alaska, just for the reason of dip netting alone. You can catch some crazy amount of fish with your boat, some friends, and a 4' wide net. You won't go hungry.

The day after we got back from Homer, my buddy and I skinned some Spruce trees and made an addition to his stair case. It turned out nice. A couple more days at the cabin doing some reading and relaxing, and we had to take off for Anchorage to catch our planes. We left earlier on the last day and went to Seward. I am glad that we took the time to go down there. Ray's on the Waterfront has amazing seafood chowder. Get some! I could live in Seward in a heart beat. I think the skiing and snowmobiling there must be crazy. The mountains BOOOOOM! out of town, almost like the beginning of the drive into Thompson Pass. It's a nice town, but not super touristy like Homers' spit seemed to be. We tripped around a bit in town then headed to Anchorage. Half of us got on a later flight that same day, while my wife and I stayed at her sisters place till our flight left the next day.

I've left a lot out describing our time there, but I just want to thank everyone for the hospitality and great time. Until we do it again!

(You can view more pictures here) 

P.S. Have you ever seen these folks around? They started in South Africa 5 years ago and have driven around Africa, Europe, South and Central America, North America, Asia and into Russia! According to their map… Nice guy to talk to. 

Tags: ak, alaska, homer, seward, soldotna

The blossoms are starting to really show here, even in the mid-spring cold, rain and snow. From the Apple trees to the mini Grape Hyacinths, the colors are really coming alive. It is hard to imagine that all the little buds that turn into flowers will become fruit. It’s like the flower turns inside out and the fruit gets pulled up from the roots and out the end of the branch. The natural process of things is surely divine. At the center of it all, it looks like nothing, but in essence it is that we cannot see that is. “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.” Psalm 135:7

Tags: blossoms, divine, flowers, grape hyacinths, Spring, tulips

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.
So let it be
—Scottish Blessing