Another Weekend at the Cottage

Little Miss Madelynn trying her hand at embroidery a while back...


Out and about
We were a little more organized this time going out to the Cottage. I had gone grocery shopping the night before so there wasn't this big after work rush that happened last time.
The Bearded One had taken our Bistro set and ornamental grass pot out earlier in the afternoon so we were able to take lil' green, and have plenty of room for everything we needed.
We headed over to Shelton Sat. morning to pick up a few plants for the porch containers and also stopped by the local pet store to see a bout a home for our finches. We love them but there just isn't room at the cottage for two extra large cages and their inhabitants. We will be able to take them to Paws and Claws anytime so The Bearded One will probably do that this week. So sad. The babies have been a hoot to watch. Each one has their own little personality.


Cottage Life
We went to the Innkeepers last night for a glass of wine and ended up partaking in dinner. We had a wonderful combination of fresh steamer clams, kale, dandelion greens, and garlic chili sauce over bulgur. It was amazing. Then followed a course of baked squash and a mixed greens and avocado salad. The Coup de gras, was the caramelized apple cake. Yumm. Wine and stories flowed and a good time was had by all.

Happy Homemaker
Tonight for dinner we are going to have fresh steamers. By the time this is published it should be a done deal with pictures to document the event.
It began yesterday when we dug (actually sort of raked) our clams during the afternoon low tide. We did this using a small hand held garden fork. It's a very muddy job because you are on the edge of the rocky beach which quickly becomes mudflats. The abundance of clams is amazing. Of course I was a little distracted by all of the oysters lying around waiting for me to pluck them up. But that's another meal.
You only keep those clams that are and inch and a half or larger. These we put in a small plastic laundry basket which has about a fifty foot rope which is tied to a tree on shore. We put a couple of heavy rocks on the bottom to keep it from flipping over. The tide then comes in and out and washes most of the bay mud off the "captured" clams making them much easier to clean for cooking. I am at this moment waiting for the tide to go out so that I can retrieve my dinner. I plan to steam them with butter and garlic. And serve them with a nice salad. What a way to live.

 A happy ending to a great weekend.

Be Safe and watch out for each other...
Rhondi