Recent Hobbies and Other Things I Have Been (or Plan To) Fiddle With

Well my new obsession is my garden(s). Three of them now, all 100% organic. My asparagus, Jereselum artichokes, horseradishes, rhubarb and garlic were prolific. For the 2009 season I plan to grow radishes, beans, cucumbers, hot peppers, beets, swiss chard, cantalope, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, kholrobi, brussels sprouts, cabbages.... and... I started digging a root cellar but still need to cover it. Started 2 compost piles.

This past summer I built new front steps and cleaned up some trails. Rented a tractor and bought maybe 80 yards of rock and spread it around the driveway.

Been making homemade sauerkraut (so easy and great tasting. NOTHING like store bought). Same with pickles. Have about 15 gallons of them fermenting. And, making my own cheeses too. So far I have made Farmers cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese and ricotta cheese. So good! Also making my own vinegar. Wine vinegar, cider vinegar and malt vinegar. Realling getting into the fermented food stuff. Pickled a bunch of beets... yummm.

Cant wait to get started on this years garden. Already checking out the seed catalogs.

Old hobbies entries

Don Levy Boxing Articles and Pictures

My Grandpa on my moms side, Don Levy was a professional boxer before going to work for Hughes Aircraft. He fought representing the Navy in the featherweight division... and was apparently VERY good! My Grandma Violet kept an album of newspaper clippings documenting his fights. Looks like another project... I will find out as much as I can about Grandpa Don and post it here. When I get enough materials I will seperate out the sites a little better. For now, I have scanned the Albums that contain the articles. Sometime in the future when I have time I will pull the individual articles and scan them seperately. Unfortunately the documents are pretty fragile, so I dont want to rush into it... I will take time and do it right. Reading the articles is very interesting, noticing all the slang used by the reporters to describe the events. This link will take you to the 2 albums of articles, about 20 pages each.

HULL OAKES LUMBER COMPANY BELLFOUNTAIN OREGON

Just a few miles up the road from me is Hull Oakes Lumber Company. It appears they are the last remaining steam powered lumber mill in the country. They specialize in very large pieces of llumber that is mostly used for restoring old sailing vessels, masts and buildings. This weekend (Oct 30, 2005) I took a quick drive to their place to take a few pictures (Happy Snaps with the digital camera that someday I will learn to use other than in the AUTO mode). Anyway, the place is like a big historical junk yard of old interesting vehicles and equipment. Since they were closed I stayed on the road and took these pictures. I will have to see if I cant get permission from them to visit someday while they are open and see if they will give me some leeway to wander on the premisis and take some *real* photos. In the meantime, here are the happy snaps: Hull Oakes Lumber Company Pictures . Here are some links to other sites that have pictures of the place inside while operating and information on the company in general

Cadiz Summit, California along the old Route 66 in 1940

Ruins of Cadiz Summit Ice House and Resturant
Picture Courtsey of
David Shaubert

Family Reunion News and Information

Eagle Cap Chalets at Wallowa Lake in Joseph Oregon

This is a resort that two of my Cousins familys, Debbie and Brian, and Ron and Dianne purchased a few years ago. Since they have fixed the place up we have had several family reunions here. As you can see from their description we never run out of things to do.

Eagle Cap Chalets and Park at the River Deluxe RV are located on the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness where you can enjoy the beauty of the mountain ranges and all the nature that lives there.  Deer wander freely as people stare in amazement.  In the summer there are shops, restaurants, and lots of fun things for the kids to do from miniature golfing to horseback rides.

The Wallowa Lake Tramway is located right next door where you can take a ride up Mount Howard to an elevation of 8,241 feet.  From that point you can marvel at the sight of the Eagle Cap Mountain Range, the Seven Devils, and Hells Canyon.  You can pack a lunch and hike one of the many trails at the top or enjoy the wonderful food offered by the Summit Grill.

Wallowa Lake is located 1/4 miles from our front door.  Fishing is a good idea any time of  year or, you could rent a boat, swim , or just grab a book and sit under a tree.  If you are lucky, you may even get to see a family of eagles soar over your head on their way to gather food for their babies and dive for fish.  It is a great sight to see!

You do not have to wait until summer to enjoy the wilderness.  We are open year round and have an indoor pool and hot tub.  After a breathtaking day in the snow, nothing feels better than taking a quick dip in the pool followed by a nice warm up in the hot tub.  There is snowmobiling, snow boarding, down hill skiing, cross country skiing, and sledding within minutes of our facility.  Take a look at Wallowa County's calendar of events and check out our photo gallery.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.