What a pizza

That, my friends, is a grilled-smoked chicken, garlic, onion, tomato, and basil pizza, on a whole-wheat oatmeal crust that I made here with my own two hands. A sort of celebration, I passed my boards (unconfirmed as of yet, but I knew all the answers), and Jen raced her but off this weekend (and won some good money). Email me if you want the recipe, but I must warn you, it ain't easy to make.

More yurt photos

These shots are from Jennifer's camera, and I realize they are out of sequence from the others that I posted earlier. This set covers the time we spent on Friday putting the liner, insulation, and outer shell on the yurt, and some shots of the gang from Thursday night when we were finishing work on the frame. Enjoy......

MORE YURT PHOTOS

PS- There is also a shot of our temporary toilet, which is a waist deep hole I dug with a box and seat on top!  

Wow, what a yurt!

I spent 2 weeks camping on our land in Black Mountain putting up the yurt we ordered in February. My body is aching, I'm covered with bruises from falling off the deck 2 times, but we now have a yurt to live in. The deck is 8 feet off the ground at the highest point, 46 feet across diagonally. The yurt from Blue Ridge Yurts is a 24 foot model, fully insulated, with a regular door and a French Door opposite it. I could not have done this work by myself, and I wish to thank all of you that helped: Cousin Bob and his family, Carlos, Bill, Art, James, Brian, my wife Jen, and especially my mom, who stuck with me through the entire process even when I was ranting madly with frustration and exhausted. 

Here are some shots of the process, just follow the link:

Yurt gallery one

The shots of the fabric and insulation going on are still on Jennifer's camera. I will retrieve them and put a full slide show together with narration as soon as I can. The deck is still lacking the final deck planking in some spots, but both doors are on and they lock, so we can stay there and feel safe about leaving our stuff overnight. There are many details I wish to share with all of you reading along, but I have to move on to the next project, NURSING BOARDS!!!!!! Yes, I have to take the national exam on Saturday, so the next five days are reserved for study. I will take some breaks and post more tales from the yurt raising process as the chance presents itself. Thanks again to all that helped out!!

video of the beaches on Menorca

Pictures from Ciutadella

My last couple of days on the Balearic island of Menorca were spent in the city of Ciutadella, on the Western coast. I rode the bus from Mahon, checked into the cutest little hotel, $30 per night and it had an attached bathroom with shower! I jumped on the bike, and headed for the port. Along the way I stopped at the grocery and picked up some sardines, octopus, and bread for lunch. I followed the far road out to the lighthouse and sat by the sea and ate. On the way back I spotted a man descending some stairs to a concrete platform next to a cove at the entrance to the port. I said to him what a nice spot it was, and to my surprise he said, “there’s plenty of room here, you should join!” I did, and it was a stroke of luck. His name was Felix, and he spoke good English, lived in Barcelona, had another home here in Ciutadella, and was super friendly. We talked about the island, and I learned a lot, then he convinced me to go for a swim. I should have been in the water the whole time! It was perfect. The water was as clear as what comes out of the tap, and just the right temp to cool off. We swam for quite a while, then he invited me to join him for a meal. We went to a cafe in the top of the port, and I had the best meal of my trip thus far. Felix left to go back to his family in Barcelona, and I went to find a shop that sold swim goggles. I returned to the cove with goggles, and spent the rest of the evening swimming with the fish. I went back to the hotel, which had a beautiful courtyard with cafe, and planned tomorrow’s visit to the virgin beaches. The next day I rode the 14 miles on winding country roads to the Southern coast, to where the pavement ends, and if you don’t have a bike you walk the last 15 minutes to the beach. This beach, called Macarella, and the smaller Macarelleta another 10 minutes walk around the corner, were spectacular! I swam from the main beach to the smaller beach, then hiked over the mountain to take pictures. In the pictures, the beach that is on the left is the main one, and the one to the right is the smaller one. I can’t stress how much the pictures do not do this place justice. I was so struck by the beauty that I stayed all day. I swam for hours, and got burned to a crisp, it still hurts today. I got back to Ciutadella about 6pm, washed up, and went out to take some more pictures of the city. As you can see from the pictures, it is perfect. I did run into a local horseman practicing for the festival that would take place next weekend. On Menorca, they have a very special breed of horses, one of the only true all black breeds left in Europe. They walk with more pride than any horse I have ever seen, the Lipizzan Stallions have nothing on these horses. During the festival, the rider rears the horse up and the people gather around and try to hold the horse up, and keep him from returning his hooves to the ground. The closer to the heart you can touch the horse, the more luck you will have. They also race the horses on the natural clay area at the head of the port you can see in the photos. The next day I left Menorca via the “fast ferry” which could go a maximum of 46 miles per hour, and we did 46 miles per hour the whole time. What took 9 hours to cover in the conventional ferry only took 3 in the fast one, sweet. I can’t wait to go back to Menorca!!!!

Mahon, Menorca, ESP

pictures of a day in Mahon

After a full day of sights in Barcelona, I boarded the overnight ferry to Menorca. There was a little confusion on which ferry I would take, as there was a major protest in Spain going on, and no fuel was able to make it to the port of Barcelona that day. The company I booked with was unable to sail a ship, so they transfered my reservation to another company that did have a gassed up ship. I was slightly troubled at the thought of going to an island with no guarantee of return if the protest kept up, but hey, I could get stuck worse places than an island in the Mediterranean, right? I woke up the next morning to see a lighthouse painted just like my favorite one in Buxton, NC, on the Outer Banks. A little later we entered the mouth of the port of Mahon, the second largest deepwater port in the world, second only to Pearl Harbor. It averages 40 meters deep, that’s deep, but it doesn’t see nearly the traffic most other harbors do! As we neared the harbor, the harbor pilots came along in a little boat, and one jumped across to a rope ladder on our ferry, headed to the wheel house, and took over the steering. We passed by lots of pastel colored buildings and lots of pleasure yachts, cliffside houses, and some seriously steep and curvy streets that led to the top of the cliffs. I rode my bike to the hotel, a brightly colored place, with some hippy types in charge. The rooms were all different colors, and there was a really cool patio on the roof that overlooked the main part of the city. My room was by far the brightest room I have ever slept in, ever. After I settled in, I took a cycling tour of the city. The standard method I use is to head first to the waterfront, then just ride till I am completely lost, find myself on the map, orient myself, then repeat till I can’t get lost anymore. This adventurous exploration method works really well, in the smaller cities especially. In my wanderings I found a gin distillery with original equipment from the 1800’s, still in use. They had an all you can drink, self serve, unattended tasting room. Too bad I don’t like gin at all, but I did get to witness several Aussies getting way out of hand, any nobody said a word to them. After exploring, I headed out on the bike to find that lighthouse, and the remote beach near it. It was about 12 miles away, in a national park, and the walk to the beach was 45 minutes from the parking lot! The beach was amazing, and there were only about 4 other people there when I got there. I stayed to swim and lay in the sun for a few hours, then headed back to Mahon. Later, I took a really cool harbor tour aboard a glass bottom boat that I really enjoyed. Tomorrow it was on to Ciutadella on the other side of the island. I was talked out of riding my bike across the island by the skipper of the tour boat, he claimed that there was nothing to see in the interior, and the bus would only cost me $2. Besides, my folding bike was perfect for the bus trip. As it turns out, he was totally right.

A few words about Catalan

In Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, they do not speak Spanish. This was a surprise to me, it's Spain after all! They speak Catalan, which is a cross between Spanish, Italian, and French from what I can tell. Catalan is also spoken in the Balearic Islands, where Minorca, or Menorca in Catalan, is located. The capital city of Menorca is Mao, or Mahon in Catalan. I will refer to it as Mahon, because of this reason........

Long ago in the city of Mahon, a certain sauce was created and brought back to the king of France after the defeat of the British on the island of Menorca. This later became known as mayonnaise!! Anyone who has sat at a table with me for more than a few minutes knows my lifelong dislike of this condiment. YUCK! I can't even believe I visited the birthplace of this dreadful sauce, but to me it was sort of ironic. Needless to say, I did make all of my own sandwiches the whole time I was there.