Do The Deck 21Jun14

Over the last two weekends I've painstakingly refinished our hardwood (ipe & camaru, Brazilian hardwoods) deck. The first weekend I pressure washed the entire deck at close range to cut off the dirty gray surface. Unfortunately I did not get the before and after pictures of that process but it was amazing improvement. Second weekend I rubbed the entire deck in acetone to assure great adhesion of new oil and then applied Messmers UV Plus for hardwood decks, an oil-based surface. Here's the final result and the before & after of the oiling process. Three hours was spent just researching the best maintenance process for ipe decks. It does turn out that while gorgeous when maintained, significant time is required because the stuff is so dense (specific gravity of steel - wood that will not float) hardly anything soaks into the wood. Starting to rain again a bit; glad I'm done and the surface has cured a day. Whew.

Summer Sombrero @ Grape Ck 13Jun14

Scored a straw  summer sombrero to replace the overheater wool for the hot months. I still need to make mods for CoWW feathers but it worked really well today at 82◦ in sun. I'm so stylin' here at Grape Ck. Caught an afternoon on Deweese effluent via Bear Gulch access running the normal hike 1 mile downstream play. Note to CoWWs: we need to alter the scheme and fish from TH all the way up sometime... tailwaters typically fish bigger and better closer to the dam; just sayin', not knowin'. Grape Ck is"ragin'" too now and the alluded unpassable canyon section was indeed unpassable! Wading was sketchy even in places and the "holding spots" were many fewer to the eye for these 12-14" fish. All the big nice holes were dirty, bank-to-bank, fast and deep. But you know me, I did find a good portion of fishy spots but went to slower slack water near the bank every 100 ft or so and caught a doz or more 12-14" browns... no 'bows. Only one third top water and two thirds various nymphs... green stimi and my chartruese PT CJ look-somewhat-similar were the main attractions. I probably should've dredged the holes  - Greg would've done so successfully no doubt - I did catch one nice one on the drowned stimi as a streamer - freakin' browns, so aggressive.

Morning Ritual 10Jun14

Kala and I have taken to getting our veggie nutrients if not fiber therefrom by juicing a gob each day. Today's compliment is shown here before and after squeezing.We've determined the lime is vital... it's really pretty good but makes a trip to Whole Foods every 3 days now.

Low Flow @ 11Mile 04Jun14

Despite the raging rivers across CO, the So Platte at 11 Mile Canyon is trickling out. The low flows made fishing a bit weak and I was constantly cleaning my bug of mank, but it's always nice to be out. I did catch plenty of fish on midge emergers in the AM and then left mid-day for work duties. Below is a decent 17" rainbow but most other fish were smaller 12-14" guys in 'bow and brown. Not much surface action yet. Crowding was an issue even on Wed due to 11 Mile being one of the only "low flow" rivers right now - didn't see a lot of catching going on but the campgrounds were quite full. I used the precise Winston 4wt B3X which was a blast to cast - unfortunately though it did break and will be in the shop for 6 weeks.

Cherrita 02Jun14

So, not to compete with the DD, but summertime and a new watercraft deserve a new cocktail. Kala & I enjoyed Cherritas tonight. Three quarters cup of pitted fresh cherries, juice of 3 limes, 3 TBsp Agave nectar, ~9 oz Hornitas Silver (you get the idea - to remember portions I'm using all 3s). Put these ingredients into blender and pulse 5 times to break up cherries into chunks but not pulverize; then put ice in a shaker and pour cherry-lime "aid" over ice. Shake till super cold and serve strained through shaker immediately to marg glasses. Wow awesome, so tasty and so red - takes ya back to a kid at the Tastee Freeze buying cherry limeades. Perhaps a dollop of cherry or lime sorbet in the center would top it off but that move is not needed.

With the rest of the cherries, and mostly the same proportions, on day 2 I prepared a variant of the initial libation. After preparing as above I topped off each glass with 3 oz of club soda to add some fizz and cut the strength a bit... worked great. I also added a scoop of lime sherbet... still working on that part; Kala and I agreed we need to find better material for that (as the creaminess changed the original awesome cocktail too much) so it's a work in progress... next stop lime and black cherry cubes.