Well, lately I've just been taking films and shots and posting them.
For just photos, you want to check out: www.flickr.com/photos/stinz
For films, the following:
For Chito Beach Resort's moment in film history (hi, Pat!): http://www.youtube.com/?v=Ft0P39nzE-w
Makah Days! And me dancing: http://www.youtube.com/?v=IDbMulREqOw
Smoking Fish: http://www.youtube.com/?v=OvS9vAEm7PE
Bone Gaming: http://www.youtube.com/?v=M_wtfl41Xbc
Or you can just go to www.youtube.com and search for "Rummelhart."
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
Dead Fish
Okay... so now the seals are catching our fish for us.
Before you ask, just consider that our old cat Spuds needs raw fish to make him happy. He's old -- as said -- he has a growth on his nose. So he gets when he wants.
So I was down at the beach yesterday, gathering mussels off the reef to catch him fresh greenling in the evening. The tide was mass out, so I wander a little further out, in search of scallops. Whoops. The summer seaweed growth soon stopped that -- I was asking for a broken neck horsing around on anything that slippery.
I was heading back when I spotted a 15-inch fish floating in a clear tide pool. With absolutely none of my old city squeamishness, I went and picked the fish up. No head -- had been ripped off, and took all the guts, neat as neat. Seal job. They'll take the head and guts sometimes, leave the rest to feed other predators, or the plankton (no waste in nature). I scrubbed off the body and pulled out excess membrane still clinging to the white flesh. Smelled of it, inside and out -- nice and fresh. Why not? It had probably been beheaded that morning, and floated under the surface of icy water ever since.
When I got it home, we quickly identified the fish with the fish book. Pacific Hake, or Whiting. Filleted and skinned it. Soft flesh. Yup. Hake. Put the raw fillets on a plate in the fridge.
Since then, everybody in the cat tribe has had a nip at it -- but they got tired of it. And it wasn't drying as well as the greenling fillets I already had on a towel on a plate in the fridge. So figured I better cook what was left.
Cooked up nice. Really white, sweet fish. Mixed it with noodles and lentils, hot sauce, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar. Tasty.
So now the seals are catching our fish for us.
Okay... so now the seals are catching our fish for us.
Before you ask, just consider that our old cat Spuds needs raw fish to make him happy. He's old -- as said -- he has a growth on his nose. So he gets when he wants.
So I was down at the beach yesterday, gathering mussels off the reef to catch him fresh greenling in the evening. The tide was mass out, so I wander a little further out, in search of scallops. Whoops. The summer seaweed growth soon stopped that -- I was asking for a broken neck horsing around on anything that slippery.
I was heading back when I spotted a 15-inch fish floating in a clear tide pool. With absolutely none of my old city squeamishness, I went and picked the fish up. No head -- had been ripped off, and took all the guts, neat as neat. Seal job. They'll take the head and guts sometimes, leave the rest to feed other predators, or the plankton (no waste in nature). I scrubbed off the body and pulled out excess membrane still clinging to the white flesh. Smelled of it, inside and out -- nice and fresh. Why not? It had probably been beheaded that morning, and floated under the surface of icy water ever since.
When I got it home, we quickly identified the fish with the fish book. Pacific Hake, or Whiting. Filleted and skinned it. Soft flesh. Yup. Hake. Put the raw fillets on a plate in the fridge.
Since then, everybody in the cat tribe has had a nip at it -- but they got tired of it. And it wasn't drying as well as the greenling fillets I already had on a towel on a plate in the fridge. So figured I better cook what was left.
Cooked up nice. Really white, sweet fish. Mixed it with noodles and lentils, hot sauce, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar. Tasty.
So now the seals are catching our fish for us.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Goodbye, Spuds
When we moved to Clallam Bay, the former owner begged us to take her old grey and white cat, "Spuds." We did, and we love him dearly. He is such a very sweet purry old character.
But Spuds spent a lifetime lazing in the sun, so now he has what our vet very much suspects is a squamous nasal sarcoma (and research on the net turned up photos that look the same for the condition, or rather, much more advanced cases).
Our vet says he hasn't the capabilities for the surgery. The nearest veterinary surgeon he could refer us to for this treatment is in Seattle. Clallam Bay is far out on the Olympic Penninsula (www.mapquest.com), and we don't have a car right now (working on that!), and I have to go to Boston for major dental surgery, myself.
We're keeping Spud's condition down with steroid shots and antibiotics, just for the tissue damage, and the vet is going to give us some cream to keep down the pain and infection. But it doesn't look good.
Spuds is 17. He's not suffering yet, but we don't want him to, either. If a month or two more of decent life in front of the wood stove is all he's got, we can accept that, too. We want to do what's right for this good old cat (we've got a number of cats, and have gone through several animal deaths, including those from old age and various traumas). And any treatment we've found will either endanger his eyes (radiation) or make him vomit (chemicals). That's not how to spend the last days of his life. Hell, Dan and I have living wills so no one will do it to us.
So Spuds is out in the yard, basking in the sun, waiting for winter.
When we moved to Clallam Bay, the former owner begged us to take her old grey and white cat, "Spuds." We did, and we love him dearly. He is such a very sweet purry old character.
But Spuds spent a lifetime lazing in the sun, so now he has what our vet very much suspects is a squamous nasal sarcoma (and research on the net turned up photos that look the same for the condition, or rather, much more advanced cases).
Our vet says he hasn't the capabilities for the surgery. The nearest veterinary surgeon he could refer us to for this treatment is in Seattle. Clallam Bay is far out on the Olympic Penninsula (www.mapquest.com), and we don't have a car right now (working on that!), and I have to go to Boston for major dental surgery, myself.
We're keeping Spud's condition down with steroid shots and antibiotics, just for the tissue damage, and the vet is going to give us some cream to keep down the pain and infection. But it doesn't look good.
Spuds is 17. He's not suffering yet, but we don't want him to, either. If a month or two more of decent life in front of the wood stove is all he's got, we can accept that, too. We want to do what's right for this good old cat (we've got a number of cats, and have gone through several animal deaths, including those from old age and various traumas). And any treatment we've found will either endanger his eyes (radiation) or make him vomit (chemicals). That's not how to spend the last days of his life. Hell, Dan and I have living wills so no one will do it to us.
So Spuds is out in the yard, basking in the sun, waiting for winter.
Nose Cancer
Oh, man. It looks like that cat I was talking about -- Spuds, with the nose problem-- has a nasal squamous sarcoma. In other words, a cancerous growth in the nose. Pink-nosed cats who lay in the sun all day long until they are bleached -- like Spuds does -- get this.
Our vet can't just cut it out. The only oncologists who can are in Seattle. No, we don't have a car, yet.
And Spuds is 17 years old. Any treatment at all may allow survival from a month to 36 months, according to what I can find on the net. And of course, it costs an arm and a leg (one does not ignore the $$ problem on health care).
He's still cheerful, but these things can get ugly and painful fast. The photos on the net are UGLY. This poor old cat does not deserve this.
Oh, man. It looks like that cat I was talking about -- Spuds, with the nose problem-- has a nasal squamous sarcoma. In other words, a cancerous growth in the nose. Pink-nosed cats who lay in the sun all day long until they are bleached -- like Spuds does -- get this.
Our vet can't just cut it out. The only oncologists who can are in Seattle. No, we don't have a car, yet.
And Spuds is 17 years old. Any treatment at all may allow survival from a month to 36 months, according to what I can find on the net. And of course, it costs an arm and a leg (one does not ignore the $$ problem on health care).
He's still cheerful, but these things can get ugly and painful fast. The photos on the net are UGLY. This poor old cat does not deserve this.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Update
Okay. Now we need a new roof.
BUT --
I got Dan working on that one. He's supposed to be finding estimates and looking up $$ on www.grants.gov Hey, I said I would do the roof and just pay for the materials (Hartnagels Truevalue Hardware in Port Angeles has a Pink Tool Apron program in which women who do a project and take photos and do descriptions for their website get the materials for contractor's prices). But Dan, who has done work with his Dad, said NOOOOO, that would leak. Rini Duncan next door said she did a roof when she'd never done any such thing, with -- was it her brother? - and a female friend - and the guys' side of the roof leaked, and the girls' side didn't. Well, of course, females are detail-minded. Or anal. Picky picky picky gets you a dry roof. But Dan is insisting we hire a crew and I said, "Okay, you want a crew -- YOU FIND THE MONEY." Deal.
The car is fixed (clutch was shot -- but it had a billion miles on it!), and Bugmasters in Seattle is working on finding a buyer. I've got it up at www.craigslist.com under Seattle and Cars.
Working on getting a new car -- that's in the pipeline. In the meantime, using the incredible Clallam County bus system. From now on, in the summer, it's the bus. TOO nice, and no messing with vacation traffic.
New fridge! Neat little apartment size one, that uses $20.00 less a month in power. Full of beer, bait and smoked salmon.
Mouth is a mess -- ancient rotting hole in my face from a dead nerve UNDER a crown (why do I never feel these things?) and busted another tooth. Local doc gave me antibiotics to hold me, and said the busted tooth was fine -- the filling is still good.
But -- I need an endodontist.
Working on flying to Boston where endodontists are MUCH cheaper, and staying with friends who want me there, too (and make incredible fried chicken) -- fix the mouth, have loads of fun visiting (publish a book while I'm there, because I'll be forced to work on it, having no other computer access. Use www.lulu.com), AND -- if it works out -- set up a book signing tour for Permanent Party (www.booksurge.com). Oh, and go to horse shows to learn more about this incredible new camera.
I need to be cloned.
Did I tell you about the camera? A reader went a little crazy and got me a Nikon CoolPix 8700 and a full kit -- including extra lithium batteries, storage disks or whatever those are called, tripods, fancy carrying cases -- JEEZE! I'm still in shock.
And all he wants in return is I learn to be a photographer. John Brewer at the Penninsula Daily News says that as soon as I get a car, he'll buy me lunch. Because with a car and this camera, I can even take FILMS. I'm going to figure out how to get those up on the blog.
AND learned how to smoke salmon with little work or mess -- and it's the best smoked salmon EVER. And my smoker is a bunch of old two-buy fours and broken concrete brick and some cedar shakes and some old racks, and I use little bits of driftwood to smoke.
Just picked up free advertising with a publisher who ain't much now but I'm convinced is going someplace.
And demanding stock options.
Things are pretty good.
Okay. Now we need a new roof.
BUT --
I got Dan working on that one. He's supposed to be finding estimates and looking up $$ on www.grants.gov Hey, I said I would do the roof and just pay for the materials (Hartnagels Truevalue Hardware in Port Angeles has a Pink Tool Apron program in which women who do a project and take photos and do descriptions for their website get the materials for contractor's prices). But Dan, who has done work with his Dad, said NOOOOO, that would leak. Rini Duncan next door said she did a roof when she'd never done any such thing, with -- was it her brother? - and a female friend - and the guys' side of the roof leaked, and the girls' side didn't. Well, of course, females are detail-minded. Or anal. Picky picky picky gets you a dry roof. But Dan is insisting we hire a crew and I said, "Okay, you want a crew -- YOU FIND THE MONEY." Deal.
The car is fixed (clutch was shot -- but it had a billion miles on it!), and Bugmasters in Seattle is working on finding a buyer. I've got it up at www.craigslist.com under Seattle and Cars.
Working on getting a new car -- that's in the pipeline. In the meantime, using the incredible Clallam County bus system. From now on, in the summer, it's the bus. TOO nice, and no messing with vacation traffic.
New fridge! Neat little apartment size one, that uses $20.00 less a month in power. Full of beer, bait and smoked salmon.
Mouth is a mess -- ancient rotting hole in my face from a dead nerve UNDER a crown (why do I never feel these things?) and busted another tooth. Local doc gave me antibiotics to hold me, and said the busted tooth was fine -- the filling is still good.
But -- I need an endodontist.
Working on flying to Boston where endodontists are MUCH cheaper, and staying with friends who want me there, too (and make incredible fried chicken) -- fix the mouth, have loads of fun visiting (publish a book while I'm there, because I'll be forced to work on it, having no other computer access. Use www.lulu.com), AND -- if it works out -- set up a book signing tour for Permanent Party (www.booksurge.com). Oh, and go to horse shows to learn more about this incredible new camera.
I need to be cloned.
Did I tell you about the camera? A reader went a little crazy and got me a Nikon CoolPix 8700 and a full kit -- including extra lithium batteries, storage disks or whatever those are called, tripods, fancy carrying cases -- JEEZE! I'm still in shock.
And all he wants in return is I learn to be a photographer. John Brewer at the Penninsula Daily News says that as soon as I get a car, he'll buy me lunch. Because with a car and this camera, I can even take FILMS. I'm going to figure out how to get those up on the blog.
AND learned how to smoke salmon with little work or mess -- and it's the best smoked salmon EVER. And my smoker is a bunch of old two-buy fours and broken concrete brick and some cedar shakes and some old racks, and I use little bits of driftwood to smoke.
Just picked up free advertising with a publisher who ain't much now but I'm convinced is going someplace.
And demanding stock options.
Things are pretty good.
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