Earth Wind Sun

This is a snapshot of painting for a poster contest at work promoting green environmental practices. Don't know if I won yet. Doesn't matter though, I had lots of fun doing the painting. My lettering is awful - it was late.

The Yurt Trip

This past weekend I had the privilege of camping out in a Yurt with some awesome dudes. I've never camped in a Yurt before, let alone hiking uphill on snow/ice for 2 miles just to get to the thing. Thanks for having dinner ready (Tim, Adam, Shane) when I arrived. Thanks for coming down and treking in with me Sam. I'd be lost somewhere in those woods and snow if you hadn't.

We did some more hiking & snowshoeing on Saturday which was very refreshing. The scenery was beautiful. Saw some wildlife too. Hiked back out at 6AM on Sunday. Soreness set in on Mon. and Tues. Would do it again in a heartbeat.










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Does it fly?

A sweet little 1929 Ford Roadster stopped by the neighbors the other day. So my 3 year old son and I went to take a look. He promptly asked me, "Does the car fly." (like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) a recent favorite of his. Funny.

CSI Suburb Wildlife

This morning on my way out I noticed something peculiar just outside the house. A mess of juniper branches and needles, a small perfect bird nest and the remains of a little blue egg splattered on the driveway. Hmmm... Who done it? or What did it? Help us solve this mystery. Send in your theories now! Here are a few photos to help.

Mango Salsa

Some friends were asking for my new recipe for Mango Salsa. Well friends, here you go:

.75 - 1 finely chopped yellow onion

5-6 salad size tomatoes finely chopped (Not the huge beefsteak tomatoes or the small roma tomatoes)

1 - 1.5 limes - juice

1 - 2 tablespoons vinegar

.25 - .5 cups (lightly packed) finely chopped cilantro

1 mango finely chopped (peaches work too)

.5 - 1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper

.25 - .5 teaspoon red chili powder

1 clove garlic finely chopped (roasted or lightly sautéed in a pan with oil)

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

salt and pepper (optional)


I use a hand chopper for the onions, tomato, cilantro (each separately) a food processor/chopper works well, but can chop things too fine if not careful. There's a fine balance between the vinegar, sugar and salt percentages, you almost have to do these to taste.

Chill salsa in the fridge for at least an hour. It will taste hotter the longer it sits thanks to the crushed chili peppers permeating throughout.

Enjoy with your favorite corn chips. Happy Eating!

Doggy presents in the living room

You know your dog was born in a warm climate when she won't go outside at night or in the morning, but she'll gladly leave presents for you to find before breakfast in the front living room. Aaargh! Good thing for wood floors. And it's not even that cold out yet.

Attention to your dog

You know it's time to pay a little attention to your dog when you think to yourself, "self, if I stop feeding the dog, maybe she'll stop pooping on my grass, living room floor or just stop pooping altogether". Sigh...she's a good dog really.