Tree Work

We found a tree that needed to be taken down, before it fell down, so we called the tree people (click on photo for larger version):


Here you can see why it needed to be taken down:


Now we just need to clean up the mess.

8 Steps

With all of the beautiful, hot, sunny weather that we had in New England this summer, we ended up with a bumper crop of tomatoes. So many tomatoes that we weren't quite sure what to do with them all. To use up some of the extras, we decided to start making our own pizza sauce. The following post walks through the 8 steps to homemade pizza with homemade pizza sauce!

Step #1 - Pick fresh tomatoes - the fresher the better!

Step #2 - Dunk tomatoes in boiling water for 30-45 seconds.

Step #3 - Remove tomatoes from boiling water and drop in ice water. This makes it easy to slide the tomato skins right off.

Step #4 - Remove tomato skins.

Step #5 - Squeeze tomatoes and drain as much of the liquid as possible. I was not very good at this step, but did my best!

Step #6 - Place all the squeezed tomatoes into a large sauce pan and simmer. We added fresh onion and basil from the garden as well as salt and pepper to season. We also found that the addition of some tomato paste was helpful and made it saucier.

Step #7 - Spread fresh pizza sauce on homemade pizza dough. Add favorite ingredients, plus some tasty cheese, and bake.

Step #8 - Eat and enjoy!

The Zoar Gap

Erin and I went to the Deerfield River in Massachusetts this weekend to test out some boats and new gear. The water was warmer than we remembered and the weather was very pleasant. It was a great day. We ran the section of river from the Fife Brook Dam (where water releases) to The Zoar Gap.


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"The Gap" as it is know is 5 miles downriver of the dam and is the most challenging class 3 rapid on this section of river. Here's how The Gap looks from the road:


And here's Dan upside down after running The Gap:

If you're wondering why I'm upside down, it's because we were so excited to get on the river, we missed lunch and by this time I was needing sustenance. :-)

NOC 2010 Photos

Photos from our NOC 2010 trip. You can find more here.

Painted Turtles

We started digging a new flowerbed yesterday but progress was quickly halted when we discovered a Painted Turtle nest in the work zone. The eggs had already hatched and there were 8 little guys (and gals) ready to begin their adventures. After a quick bath we relocated them to a more amicable place a short distance away. A short video of the encounter is above and you can see it full screen here.