Razor clamming on the Washington coast

Five layers. Hood up. Rubber boots on. Outside in the wind. Sloshing through surf. Whatever would voluntarily drive someone to those extremes? In our family, it was the call of trying out something new…razor clam digging on the Washington coast during the last day of its season at the advice of a friend. Notice I didn’t mention anything about rain. And it’s a good thing it held off because eventually I was soaked from the knee down and dragging around forty-degree sea water in my boots, all because I got a little preoccupied watching my nine-year old harvest her very first razor clam by herself. That surf has a way of sneaking up on you and catching you off guard. Never turn your back on the ocean or look down for an extended period of time, I tell you.


Anyway, we had a blast. Between the five family members and two friends that we took along we had purchased only four tags but had a haul of over fifty clams...fifteen-clam limit per tag holder. And these guys are big…about six inches long and several inches wide. Not bad for only having two clamming guns. Hopefully the photos will give you a little better idea what’s involved...scanning the wet, receding surf for signs of a clam digging in deep, popping the clamming gun over the top, getting it wiggled down through the sand, and then sealing the air hole while pulling it up with the clam hopefully trapped inside.



Cleaning them was an adventure for my husband about midnight last night, but I left him with the suggestion of checking YouTube for a tutorial while I took home a friend. Good thing, since the video’s advice was a little more specific than that he had been casually told. A pile of shells and innards later, there was a nice bag of clams waiting for the refrigerator.

Now I’m anxiously waiting returning from the girls charter school to start a fire and sit in front of it for an extended period of time to get warm down to my bones. And tackle the sandy, wet laundry and the dishes heaving out of the kitchen sink...but that's beside the point. I haven’t been able to really get warm since yesterday. Then it will be off to try my hand at throwing together some sort of gluten-free breaded and fried razor clams for dinner. Here’s hoping those guys will be delicious!


For those of you who might have noticed, this blog posting might be considered a bit of a celebration at least on my part. I have truly missed the chronicling of our hectic life. I just can’t seem to fit it in. Partly because my perfectionistic procrastination takes over…WANTING perfect photos...WANTING witty renditions of our family’s adventures…when all I really NEED is the recording of little fleeting memories to hold on to in some tangible form other than in photos and our aging memories. Our little day-trip has only been one of a million activities that has kept me away from my blog. It and a radical diet change for the entire family…supporting our catch-up learning of our little right-brained, creative learner who had been struggling with dyslexia…getting our senior son on track for deciding a college and applying for athletic and academic scholarships…being an active member with my husband in our fifteen-year-old’s musical theater program involving building sets and sewing costumes…keeping our livestock happy through the winter…all while trying to keep our focus real and on those matters that really count.

So…look for a blog post…once a week…once a month…whenever I can steal a few moments. I certainly will be relishing the opportunity.

The Return of the Swallows

There are some dates on the calendar that deserve annual recognition every year such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. And then there are those dates that just mean something special. As my kids would say, I'm dorky enough to get excited enough to remember every year the date on which the swallows return from the southern hemisphere to our property...March 28...give or take a few days and then later in the year the day they will depart.

March 28 represents the end of their six month absence. Every fall they mass together above the house for one last swoop and dart session catching up whatever mosquitoes or flying insects are available before they take off heading for warmer climates, all reminding me of the six months of cold and gloom to come.

Regardless that the calendar recorded the coming of spring a week earlier, spring doesn't really come for me until they make their appearance. Much to the rolling of their eyes, my children have usually been dictated to include their arrival in their nature journal as part of their homeschool studies. It is just one of those predictable phenoms of nature; their God-given instinct to migrate at the same time each and to return back to their homes six months later. They are such fascinating little birds that I've done a little research on their annual return which is celebrated the end of March in California at the San Juan Capistrano mission at which their return has been recorded for the past two hundred years.

Today I've kept my eyes trained upward hoping to catch them as the return. Perhaps they will still make their arrival later on this afternoon or perhaps it will be tomorrow or the next day. But you can be sure, they will be here. And they will make me smile.

Pesky Fruit Flies

I'm not sure of how many folks I've met that enjoy insects of one type or another cohabiting in their homes with them. Flying or crawling...we just don't care for them.

The "bother factor" of some insects, such as flies for instance, depends on whether you live in proximity to livestock. Those who live in warmer climates I've heard have other nuisance bugs. But as long as we're bringing commercially grown produce into our homes to start the cycle, I think we've all had to battle with....fruit flies.

They seem to proliferate in the warmer weather. They're too small to swat...although I've been known to swing wildly at them with my battery-powered fly zapper. But that's info for another post entirely. If you keep your fruit covered, then it ripens too quickly. I don't like bananas kept in the refrigerator as it ups the ick factor with dark skins for my kids. I've even gone to keeping fruit in the garage to try to combat them. Never works. And when garden tomato season starts, they seem to have a hay day.

Until now. I opened a side kitchen cupboard door and reached for my white wine vinegar. Pulling out the bottle I realized that the lid was missing. Oh well, I figured. No harm. But what I saw inside was a revelation...floating fruit flies....dead of course...drowned. No, I did not go ahead and use that vinegar, but a light bulb did go on in my head.



As par for the course, I had probably left the bottle on the counter for a day or two waiting for the lid to show up before shelving it. I know fruit flies are attracted by scents such as very ripe fruit. Vinegar gives off a similar attractant as even sourdough starter does. The flies with their expert sense of smell entered the bottle through the pouring lid and never made their way out. The lid I believe will be the secret to my new fruit fly trap. Those perforated holes make it pretty difficult for them to escape.



So to test my new fruit fly trap, I set the same bottle out on the counter where I have the most trouble with fruit flies. By morning there was several trapped inside. A few swirls of the bottle washed them off of the sides and down into the vinegar to never fly again.

I'm going to use this as my plan A for the remainder of the year. Once the liquid in the bottle starts looking too "unattractive" with its drowned flies, I will probably pop off the plastic insert and try a piece of banana or something else tempting to see how that does too. While you are using a trap, you do have to remember to make a conscious effort to remove any other source of fruit that would be more tempting than the trap liquid though. No saving bananas for banana bread sometime later in the week. It won't work that way. But this way sure beats getting out the vacuum hose and trying to suck them up while they're flying through the air, doesn't it?

If you've found a way to combat fruit flies in your house, I'm all ears. Please comment.

If you fill it, they will come

Yes, I admit I'm one of those who put up bird feeders, faithfully attract them to the yard, and then run out of birdseed. It's not the intention, but unfortunately it does happen occasionally. However, timing this time worked out great. I had been packing that 50 pound sack of black oil sunflower seeds around in the back of the minivan for way too long. Finally drug it out and filled all of the feeders expecting it to take a substantial amount of time before those innocent little songbirds would commit to trusting that those feeders would stay full and begin to visit them regularly. But as it would turn out, snow fell within a day or two, and yes, if you fill the feeder, they will come to them in flocks and droves. Now how did they know to check? They've been empty an awfully long time. Must be their God-given instincts to know where to check when they need it the most. And yes, I will keep them filled. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing them flitter and flutter about on the back porch. And when spring does arrive, we'll be rewarded by their beautiful songs and colorful plumage.