Mt Spokane Report-Day 1

I’m very anxious to be skiing. It’s now the second day of Winter and my mountain is not open yet. I know the globe is warming but I do not want to attribute this late start to that. Rather, it’s just one of those years. We’ve had them before.

But now that this is something that dominates my daily rumination's, I’m going to start keeping a bit of a record here on Mt Spokane’s progress towards opening for the season.

The snow stake shows a solid three inches of snow on the ground over night. That’s a good start. Please note that the thermometer registers 40 degrees at the time of this capture. That thermometer has been stuck at 40 for several weeks. I have emailed the mountain about it and they have acknowledged it but, it remains at 40. So we will be keeping an eye on that.

And here is the look of the mountain at Lodge 2. As I said, it’s a start but until Old Man Winter starts to cooperate, we are a long way off from skiing. 

It’s Solstice Time

Finally, Winter is here. Maybe now we can get some snow.

It’s been a pretty warm Autumn up until the last couple of days. The forecast is calling for snow over the next few days but it could easily come as rain.

I’m posting this so I will be able to refer back when we get a crap load of snow and I start complaining about having to clear it.

Last Day of Fall

Here it is, the last day of Autumn and there is no Winter in sight.

Mt Spokane was all set to open last week and then the monsoons came rolling through and washed away all the snow.

Here’s how it looked earlier today.

There is snow in the forecast for the coming week but I don’t now if it’s enough to get the chairlifts moving.

Looks like I picked the right year to not buy a Season Pass.

Interweb Outage

It seems like all I’m writing about lately is problems with Utility Services. 

Our internet has been out since Thursday. We hosted Thirsty Thursday this week and we were looking forward to watching Thursday Night Football featuring the Seattle Seahawks vs. the L.A. Ramses.The game was to be on Prime, available only on the interweb.

So when we lost our connection to the World Wide Web, we were devastated to learn we would not be able to see the game.

Fortunately, my Tech-savvy neighbor Derrick was able to get the game on his phone. So we got to watch it on a 3” x 6” screen. Eighteen of us crowded around this tiny screen.

It was a pretty tight game all the way through, even though the Seahawks were down by two touchdowns midway through the game. The Seahawks won 38 - 37, but it went into overtime and down to the last minutes.

Earlier in the afternoon, I received an automated message from Quantum, my interweb provider who said they were working on the problem and would have it repaired by 5AM on Friday. So, we knew in advance that we couldn’t see the game on our TV.

I got up well past 5 on Friday morning and still had no interweb. I got a couple other automated calls during the day that said they were working on the problem and would have it repaired by 9:02AM on Saturday.

As I was going to bed last night, I happened to look at the modem and noticed a solid green light, indicating interweb service.

It was back. I checked my email prior to going to bed and erased most of the 127 emails I had.

Among them were emails from Quantum telling me my interweb service was out and they were working on the problem. 

The fact that they were sending me emails makes me think they don’t really understand how the internet works.

Power Outage

All the weather services started talking on Sunday about the coming windy weather. They said it would be windy on Monday, ease up a bit on Tuesday and be back on Wednesday...all of this with intermittent rain. We were also told to be ready for power outages.

I got in the shower at 7:40 this morning and almost immediately, the power went out. I showered in the dark and made it a short one so as to not use up whatever hot water we had remaining.

I drove around the neighborhood to try and figure out the extent of the outage. It went from our block to the west, over to parts of Monroe Street and south to Buckeye. It didn't look like it went north beyond us and houses down the street to the east from us had power.

The electricity stayed off all day. I essentially did nothing but nap.

We left the house about five to go watch the Gonzaga game. As we left, the power came back. Then went out. After a few more minutes, it was on for good.

I'm sure I have noted this before here in this Blog but let me note it again. I find it quite disquieting how dependent on electricity we are. I do have a generator, but I did not bother to pull it out as I figured the power would come back on sooner. I mean, Hell, we are in the middle of the city. Isn't that a priority?!

Anyway, I think I'm going to dig out the generator and make sure it's working okay and place it where I have better access to it.

The other problem we ran into today was accessing the garage. With the power out, the garage door won't open. We have a side door on it, but the concrete has heaved up to such an extent that it prevented the door from opening much more than a Susan sized sliver.

She was able to get in and detach the door from the rail so we could open the door.

I took a sledgehammer to the concrete and made it a bit more accessible.

In short, not much accomplished today.

2025 Carriage Ride

 Being the second Sunday of December, tonight was the Annual Corbin Park Carriage Ride.

It looked to be a great turnout. I would estimate we had 80 to 100 neighbors milling around the fires and enjoying all kinds of treats.

It has been unseasonably warm lately and tonight was another nice warm evening.

The forecast is calling for rain for the next five days and some huge wind. 

So, stand by.

It’s Christmas Season 2025

Here is how you know that it is officially the Christmas Season.

Christmas Lights 2025

This is the day for the outdoor lights to go up. 

Up on the balcony, we have the icicle lights, the star projection light and the neon running light.

On the front porch, we wrap the pillars with white twinkle lights.

So, here we go.

Thankfully, it was a relatively warm day but the wind was gusting pretty good. We managed to get the lights up in no time at all.

We also got the lights on the balcony up quickly too. 

So now, we’re festive.

Turkey Soup Season

We are down to the best possible conclusion to the Thanksgiving Season. Turkey Soup.

The making of the Turkey soup is one of those holiday traditions that reminds me of my Mom. She always made the Turkey soup after the holidays and she made it with barley, rather than rice or noodles.

I think it’s the barley that brings me back to Mom more than anything else.

9:36 AM: The bird is in the pot and the pot is coming to a boil. Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

9:55 AM: The kitchen is already filling with the smell of Turkey boil. Yum!

2:00 PM: The carcass has been boiled and the broth is cooling. We are going to complete the cook tomorrow and have it ready for Karen and Randy when they come over.

Snow Snow Snow

We have received the first major snowfall of the year. It looks like we got two, maybe three inches and it all needs to be cleared from the sidewalks. I will get out there shortly.

The trick is to decide whether you think the snowfall will melt away naturally or it’s going to remain cold, with the threat of more snow on the way and you need to clear it now.

I have decided that this snow is going to stick around so it better get cleared. The forecast over the next two weeks does not show many temperatures above 40.

Thanksgiving Review

The turkey was pretty good. I didn’t burn it this year although I maybe should have left it in a bit longer. I pulled it at 165 and I should have left it in until 170.

Anyway, all was well, nobody got sick, at least not from the bird. Perhaps from over eating. We had a lot of food.

I think we have decided that all the extra work I put in to barbecue this turkey isn’t really worth it. The turkey was good, but so is a simple over roasted turkey. So this might be the last barbecued turkey for a while.

Now it’s time to turn to the Christmas Season. Susan will be wanting to start decorating. We need to have the house looking Christmassy by the Carriage Ride on the 14th…so we have some time.

Barbecued Turkey 2025

It’s barbecue day!

I just pulled the turkey out of the brine after an 18-hour soak.

It’s swimming in the sink for a 15-minute rinse.

We are trying something slightly different this time in order to get some authentic turkey gravy. We’ve pulled the wings off the bird and Susan is roasting in them in the oven. We’re hoping to get enough dripping for gravy.

1:15 PM: The starter charcoal has been lit.

1:36PM: The turkey is in. Here is the first photo capture of the Meater display.

I’m anticipating 4 hours for this cook. Let’s see how we do.

2:45 PM: The turkey has been in for just over an hour. When the time estimate first came up on the Meater, it estimated 3 hours and 45 minutes. Right now, it's saying it has one hour remaining. The temperature in the barbecue is up to 265° and rising. I have already closed the bottom vent a touch, but it looks like it needs a touch more.

This is a 14-pound bird, so I am not expecting it to be finished in an hour.

I have never found the Meater time estimates to be that reliable. I'm going to rely on the temperature of the meat rather than the time.

4:15 PM: We're getting down to the wire. As of this moment, the bird is at 158° with 18 minutes remaining in the time estimate. I haven't seen a lot of smoke coming out of the barbecue so I'm wondering if my wood chips were sufficient. Last year, my wood chips flamed up and burned the one side of the turkey. I don't think I soaked them enough.

This year, I thoroughly soaked the wood chips for several days and I didn't put them in as heavy as I did last time. Maybe that's why I'm not getting good smoke. I'll find out more when I pull the lid off and see how the charcoal snake is doing.

5:00PM: We are in resting mode. I pulled it off after 3 hrs, 25 minutes when it reached 165°. It ended up going about 35 minutes past the time estimate.

It looks great and it smells smoky. As soon as it's done resting, I'm going to start carving. We will cut it up tonight and warm the cut turkey tomorrow prior to dinner.

Turkey Brine 2025

Two days to go to Thanksgiving and my preparations are underway.

I have the pot full of my brine mixture on the burner heading toward a boil.

I was consulting this blog from when I barbecued a turkey last year and I found I had left some information out. Specifically, I had questions about the brining that I had not made note of last year.

Let’s start with the basics. Into the pot goes two gallons of water, three cups of apple cider, the peel of three large oranges, a cup and a half of kosher salt, two cups of brown sugar, 5 bay leaves, 4 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, 5 minced garlic cloves, and three tablespoons of peppercorns.

Susan bought fresh rosemary but I used the stuff in the spice rack. Oops! For garlic, we have a little jar of minced garlic and I put in a couple of spoons full. I used the apple cider I made the other day for the apple juice.

I’m boiling up the brine in the pot I use to brew beer. Once it boils, I am to let it cool completely before sticking the turkey in it. The turkey is to soak for 16 to 24 hours. My plan is the soak the bird in the brew pot. I hope it fits.

It took about 45 minutes to come to a boil. I let it go another 5 minutes just to ensure it was a brisk boil.

It is now cooling. I’m going to set the pot out on the deck to hasten the cooling process. It’s about 30 degrees out there.

In the meantime, I’m going to sit back, read the morning paper and enjoy a nice hot cup of homemade cider. It’s really good.

1:45PM: The brine is still cooling. I was hoping to have the turkey in the brine by now but I’m still okay. Even if I get the bird in the brine by 4:00, I’ll still get a good 17 hour soak out of it. That’s assuming I start cooking tomorrow at 9:00. I will probably end up starting later.

3:36PM: The turkey is in the brine. It’s going to be in there for at least 18 hours which will be plenty of brine time.

Okay we will be picking up the continuation of this marvelous story tomorrow.

Homemade Apple Cider

I’m barbecuing the Thanksgiving turkey this year. Here it is, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and I am already prepping.

Today, I am making Apple Cider, which will be used for the brine for the bird…and a little left over for us to enjoy.

This recipe is pretty basic, which I like. It comes from the website, www.allrecipes.com. The ingredients are as follows:

10 apples - quartered with core and peel. (I’m going to cut my apples with an apple corer so I’ll get eight apple pieces per apple.

Place in large pot and cover with water, add about 2 inch coverage.

1 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of ground allspice.

3/4 cup white sugar

Boil for one hour, simmer for 2 more hours. Strain out fruit. Probably best to strain twice.

Can be refrigerated and kept for one week.

Okay, here goes.

I’ve got 10 apples that I got from my friend, Mark. I don’t know what kind they are but they taste pretty good, pretty sweet.

They are all cut up and put in the pot along with all spices, sugar and water. I put in 1 gallon of water.

It’s just now starting to boil so we have about three hours to go.

We’re about 15 minutes into the boil and the room is starting to smell of apples. It adds a nice autumn ambiance with a hint of cimanon to the kitchen. (Yeah, I know I misspelled cinnamon.)

I just had a little taste and as expected, it’s pretty weak. It has a hint of apple in there but I’m tasting cinnamon more than anything.

We have made it through the hour long boil and it’s time to simmer down now. The flavor is building but it’s not there yet. I’ll be back in two hours.

The simmer is over and we have apple cider. I had to strain out all the apples and then I strained it again through a mesh bag I use for brewing beer.

I got just over half a gallon. I need three cups for the brine recipe so we don’t have much to drink beyond the recipe.

I guess I’m going to have to make some more.

20 Year Old Time Capsule

I was cleaning out one of my dresser drawers and I came across this old receipt from 2005.

I’m not sure what the total of this order would be today, but I know an Ultimate Cheeseburger is about eight bucks today.

I just thought this was an interesting little time capsule to get out there.