Today dawned cool and clear. Amy is anxiously awaiting warmer weather. I on the other hand, having experienced my morning cup of coffee on deck with the ambient temperature hanging around 95F as the sun comes up, at a different point in my life, enjoy putting on a wool cap to start the day off. It’s all a matter of perspective.
After breakfast I made bread dough, left it to rise, and meandered down to the cove to take advantage of the low tide and do some trash cleanup, and hump some rocks up the hill to fill in a low spot in the main trail. Project next was to gain entry to the Oil Shed, which neither Ethan or I could find a working key to. Out of curiosity I tried my keys one final time, found one that opened the lock, and would not lock it again. The Oil Shed will be deadbolt only for the nonce.
Darcy & I in search of periwinkles
By far the highlight of the day was my first effort gathering periwinkles for dinner. With the afternoon tide I launched the dinghy, picked up the dog, and paddled across the cove looking for a suitable harvesting spot (really, I could have winkled right at the slipway, but it felt better to actually go in search of them). Obviously anywhere I put in would yield a bounty of the snails, so I located a likely spot, and went on the hunt.
Darcy may be loyal to a fault but he is not a good guard dog. I put him in charge of watching the bucket while I crawled around foraging; we were almost done when a good swell came through, the bucket overturned, the periwinkles made a break for the fence, and he just sniffed around while I started the process all over again.
The Harvest
Winkling finally completed, we hopped back in the dinghy, rowed back to Amy, brought our catch up to the top of the hill, and attempted to cook them. I can say with authority that ten minutes under the high heat broiler turns the little fellows into sea snail leather. Fortunately I only cooked half of my total haul, and was able to try again. This time I produced a tender bit of meat that tasted pretty much like nothing. We dipped them in Sriracha hot sauce for added flavor, and that produced a satisfactory result. Amy & I have determined that periwinkles will not be a staple of our diet, however our overnight guests can expect to try them. You have been warned friends.
The day closed out much like it began, clear and cool, with a gentle SSW’ly breeze, temp in the mid 50’s, barometer holding steady at 29.94”, and essentially calm seas.
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