Again with the crabs

OK, the rest of the process. Brace yourselves, it gets messy. Here we are, in the kitchen with the crabs in the pot.

We add a cup of water, a cup of vinegar, and some Old Bay seasoning. The crabs don't like it.

(Hope that worked, I haven't done video yet!)

Then we put them on the stove, 5 minutes on high to get the steam going, and then another 25 - 30 minutes to steam. And of course, they turn red.

And that's when it really gets messy. I dump the crabs into the sink to drain and cool a bit, and then clean them. I take one in my hand like this:

...and then pop the top shell off, exposing all of the glop and yucky stuff inside:

Clean out all of the gunk and the gills and the skirt (underneath), and it looks like this:

A wee bit more cleaning, and a last sprinkle of Old Bay, and they are ready for the table.

And then you have to pick them! Does this seem like a lot of work to you? Believe me, it is worth it.

A little more about the Iowans

I think I promised a little more about Amber, Andrew and Parker's recent visit. Here is a tiny bit more - at least a couple of pictures. We had a great time while they were here, swimming off the dock, spent a day at the pool, made a trip to the beach. I let too much time go by before writing about it, so it is all a blur now, but here are a few pictures:

...and the pictures are really the best part, aren't they? I also got a good picture of Poppy, hope he doesn't mind if I put it up:

That's Assateague beach, home of the wild ponies. Anybody ever read "Misty of Chinqueteague"? Same place.

A little more about the crabs

As I have mentioned, we can get blue-claw crabs right out of the creek here. I am sort of an apprentice crabber, and the boys and I have been perfecting our technique over the last few weeks. Here's Levi and I heading out to the dock, cookpot at the ready, to see what we have in the crab pots.

(I had to put in both of those photos - I just couldn't decide which was cuter.) He is holding some large tongs, used to encourage the crabs out of the crabpot, or to catch one trying to skitter across the dock and back into the water.

Here's the crabpot (the trap) and our catch for the day:

Not a bad haul! You can see how much Levi enjoys this. We shake them right out of the crabpot into the cookpot after a good rinse with the hose, and then it is straight into the kitchen for cooking. I keep forgetting to get pictures of the rest of the process, as it gets progressively messier, but I have another opportunity coming up, as the pots are baited and back in the water as I write this. So you will see the rest of the process in a few days - stay tuned!

I should put out a shingle

More buzz cuts, anyone?


This is Riley, Levi and their cousin Andrew, on a recent crabbing expedition. I will write more about our weekend with Amber, Parker and Andrew - just wanted to say a quick Hi!

One Stellar Eastern Shore Day

..of which I have no pictures. (If Peter sends me some of his, I will post them later!)

My husband's Aunt and Uncle, Peter and Colby (is there such a thing as aunt- and uncle-in-laws?) were here for the weekend from Charlottesville. On Saturday, after Riley's golf lesson, (I have told you about how lovely this is already...) we all headed out to Cedar Island, which is a barrier island - on the sea side of our little peninsula. This involves packing up the sandwiches, chairs and such, and hauling the boat across to the seaside (we live on the bayside - it is just a few miles across).

After a short boatride, we are on the island with not-too-many other folks, hanging out on the sand, eating the sandwiches, splashing in the water. I wish I did have pictures for you, it was absolutely beautiful. The "activity" of the day was clamming, which involved another short boat ride to the secret spot, and about an hour and a half of squishing around in the mud. The technique is this: find a spot that is underwater, but shallow enough that you will be able to reach down into the mud with your hands without putting your face in the water. Squish your toes around in the mud until you feel a clam. Then reach down and get it and put it in your mesh bag. Easy! Riley tried it (after getting over the squemishness about the mud...) and once he got into it, was very successful. He was just the perfect weight - he sunk into the mud just to the right depth to find the clams.

After clamming, we went back to the beach for awhile, had a fun oceanside swim, and relaxed on the sand for awhile. But eventually, we had to head back home - and cook up some of those clams! We did this in a deep pan with olive oil and garlic, on the grill. You just cook them until they pop open, then scoop them out of the shells, swirl them around in the accumulated juices, and pop them into your mouth. Nothing could be better.

A day at home

I had a request from a reader (OK, my sister) to put up some pictures of the house and dock and such, so here we go. Here is the dock, which is the view from the screened porch, on which we spend a great deal of our time here. You can see why:

Across the creek is a golf course, the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club. Jeanie and Steve (my in-laws) bought us a 3-month membership there for the summer, so we go over to use the pool pretty often, and to eat in the restaurant occasionally. There are also tennis courts.

Here's the view back at the porch:

And here is what the boys were up to today:

You could call that the before picture, as they got pretty muddy jumping off of the dock and into the mud:

And needed some refreshment:

Levi's head

Oh, and did you notice Levi's new buzz cut? There is a bit of a story there. It ends with the line: "... and Levi is not allowed to have any more gum for a month." I did not get a picture of the gum in his hair (bad blogger!) because I was concerned that it would only get worse in the time it would have taken me to find the camera. Anyway, it was a messy problem well solved, as he is so darn cute with a fresh buzz cut.

And, now that we can see the roots, we notice that he has a quarter-sized spot of brown hair on one side. Odd, eh?

(Sorry for the crummy picture, it was the best I could do!)

Hey, anyone want to see my knitting?

Just a couple of small items, on lovely KnitPicks Harmony DPN's.

Soccer Camp

This week, Riley is in the twenty-something annual Noltz Soccer Camp in Onancock. All morning each day this week (this is not a sleepover or anything) he is out there with his group of 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds, each with their mini size 3 soccer balls. Did you even know that soccer balls came in different sizes? I didn't.

And what is Levi up to, you might ask?

He and I hang around in the trees (him) or on the grass (me), have some snacks,

...and watch the goings-on. At least for awhile - the little boy gets restless before long, and we take a trip up the road, maybe to the Burger King for a bathroom break and a drink, or maybe over to Rose's (like a poor man's WalMart, if you can imagine) for some unnecessary plastic objects, and more snacks. Not much knitting going on here, unfortunately.

But, my KnitPicks yarn arrived today! Thanks to a gift certificate from Terri, I have the yarn necessary for the cover-sweater from the summer Knitter's Magazine.

I am thinking about doing a "Knitting Olympics", where you (as a personal challenge) cast on a new project during the opening ceremonies, with the goal of finishing it by the closing ceremonies some - is it 18?- days later. What do you think? Will my family allow me the time to do such a thing? I don't think so, either.

Riley's Golf Lessons

Riley has been taking golf lessons on Saturday mornings at this beautiful place on the seaside, just 15 minutes or so from "home". (More on why that is in quotations later.)

The program is run by the YMCA and is free. He is doing very well - by that I mean that he is enjoying it a lot, and is very enthusiastic about going. I don't follow the class around the course, so I don't know if his swing is improving at all, but at 5 years of age, that is hardly the point.

The best part (for me, that is) is that I get to sit on the porch of this beautiful clubhouse, the former home of the family who donated the property for the golf course, for the hour that Riley plays golf, and gaze out at this view:

...their amazing double outdoor fireplaces, and the sea beyond. And of course, I knit. My carry-around knitting lately has been cotton washcloths, since it is so blistering hot here I can't stand to touch wool unless I am right next to the air conditioner! Oh, it is a sad, sad thing. I do believe it gets cold here at least part of the year, and I am looking forward to that.

Anyway, if you are reading this, it means I managed to publish some photos to my blog! I am getting cooler by the minute.

Hello Again!

Hey, look, I have had a blog for almost two years now! Am I cool or what?

Or what, would be the answer to that question.

I am going to start this blog for real, as a way of keeping in touch with all friends and family in all parts of the earth. So stay tuned. It has taken me a half an hour just to figure out how to log in and post this, so don't expect any fireworks just yet.

See you soon.