Anticipating Mother Nature

I’ve mentioned before that erosion is a problem along the bluffs of Dungeness Recreation Area. Two or three stretches of bluff trail have been rerouted in the past four years that we’ve lived here.

New trail 1

A new trail has been started near the southern edge of the bluff trail. It will route walkers well back from the edge, which has given way once already just in the time we’ve walked there.

New trail 2

This is the existing trail. The fence at the right is only a year or two old but is losing ground. And the orange cone? An attempt to stop walkers from scaling the hill ahead, a piece of which recently collapsed.

Here comes the new highway

Hwy 101 W

The Highway 101 widening project is steadily moving toward Sequim. This is the view looking west as 101 climbs the hill past Kitchen-Dick Road. The plan is to widen the highway to two lanes in both directions with a westbound merge lane entering here. Left turns from eastbound 101 at this location will no longer be allowed.

Hwy 101 E

To the east the new road will merge into the highway where it is already four lanes.

BYOB: Buy Your Own Business

If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit and want to be part of the Sequim business community, both Pacific Mist Bookstore and Jeremiah’s BBQ are up for sale.

Pacific Mist Books

The owner of Pacific Mist Books must leave the area to care for an ailing family member.

Jeremiahs

And the sign in front of Jeremiah’s BBQ advertises that it’s for sale or lease and their website notes an asking price to sell, “Lock, Stock, and Barrel.”

Hate to see them go. If you’re interested, tell them Sequim Daily Photo sent you!

Nespresso nirvana

One of my favorite things is coffee. For me it falls into the “quality of life” category, though a dispassionate observer might call it an addiction.

Nespresso 2

Resigned that it is time to get up in the morning, the call of a good cup of coffee brightens my mood. Savoring one brightens the day. Seeking the perfect cuppa I have brewed coffee with types and roasts in a good many ways from drip to perk to French press, and even used a Coffee Toddy method which soaks ground coffee in water for 12 hours, then filters it to create a cold concentrate. I don’t just flirt with coffee. I have a relationship.

This brings us to the cup of coffee above: The first cappuccino from our new Nespresso. A very good one at that.

Nespresso

I met a Nespresso coffee maker just like this on our recent trip to Seattle. Before I knew it I had brewed an espresso, a darned good one. Then came cappuccinos and a new world opened. Finally! Really good joe! You don’t strut something like this in front of a junkie and think nothing will come of it, do you?

When I discovered that its little aluminum coffee pods were recyclable it was all over but the credit card bill. It certainly wasn’t in our budget, which doesn’t take kindly to an impulse which could be fairly described as extravagant. I could list all the other things I don’t spend money on. But now that it’s found it’s place in our kitchen I can say one thing: Life is good.

Garden surprise

Bird eggs 1

The little daffodils were blooming but they were crowded out by last year’s dead ornamental grass and summer flowers. As I cut away the grass a mass of little white shells caught my eye. Eggs!

Bird eggs 2

Last year’s grass had sheltered a batch of bird eggs, each about an inch in size. I suppose you could call it a “nest,” though it doesn’t appear to have the typical bits and pieces a bird might call home. I don’t know what sort of birds they might have been. They’re long gone now.

Heavy lifting

Equipment

Phew! Here we are, happily nestled into a new server with a new look. Welcome! I hope you like it. Click on “Reply,” above if you’d like to comment.

I mentioned Denton in my last post. Denton is Lavender Lady’s (Sequim Daily Photo’s original blogger) brother, the behind-the-scenes tech support who did all the heavy lifting to transfer Sequim Daily Photo into this new environment. I’m not adverse to technology, but beyond learning the software de jour, most of the background technology in my experience has remained the purview of IT people. In this transition, in addition to doing most of the work for Sequim Daily Photo’s transfer, Denton led me step-by-step through the nuts and bolts. He knows it. You may, too. I didn’t. But with Denton’s help it’s less foreign now. And for all his work, patience, and expertise I’m deeply grateful. Thank you, Denton. I can’t thank you enough!