Dinner at Mark's

On Tuesday evening I visited Mark's home for dinner.

The visit started at Shoreline Marine Diesel where Mark presented me with the replacement alternator provided at no charge under warranty to me by Volvo.  We brought up a photo of the original alternator before I removed it from the engine and we discussed the installation process.  We then discussed measurements to be taken at various rpm to assess the performance of the re pitched propeller, as well as the maintenance to be done at 50 hours of running time.  From this discussion Mark thought that carrying a spare head cover gasket would be a good idea and that was subsequently ordered.

I then followed Mark to his property which I think is between Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow.  It is on an acre of land, backing onto a handsome forest, and on a hill with glimpses of Puget Sound.

Growing Mushrooms

There was enough daylight remaining to allow a tour of the property and wow, are Mark and his wife Chris productive people.  There was a variety of over 30 fruit trees that they planted a few years ago, berry bushes, garden plots all over the place and several green houses for growing all sorts of vegetables.  Mark showed me how they grow mushrooms, storing the logs containing the spores, soaking them when they want to activate the growing process, then hanging the logs to prevent - the slugs, I think - from getting to the mushrooms.  He and Chris make a lot of cider from their produce.

Then I got a big surprise when we visited the large sauna that he designed and built several years ago.  We passed through the first section that contained a bench and shower to enter the sauna itself with its two tiers of benches and stove with rocks on top of it.  Mark told me that they have reached temperatures of 225 F but they prefer it 20 or 30 degrees lower.  (Eat you heart out, Ib!)

Then I got a tour of the house which like the sauna showed lots of thought and reflected Mark's love of wood and years of experience in the logging industry.  He seemed to know each piece of wood by species, quality, and where it came from.  He showed me how the end grain on one of the stair posts indicated what sort of life the tree had had.  I'll let the photographs (some provided by Mark) speak for themselves.  Note the loft that supports a double bed.  Note also the mortise and tenon joints.

Shower at Sauna Ante Room

Mark

Dinner was a treat and a real adventure for me.  I had eaten crab before but it was always crab meat without the crab.  I expected to see lots of teeny little crabs.  Instead there were three live crabs that to me looked huge.  They were boiled in a large pot then Mark, Chris, and son Torsten enjoyed a mini banquet that included big fleshy shrimp, along with a bottle of Australia red that I had brought.  Mark sat next to me and showed me how to use the tools for cracking the shells and digging out the flesh.

Mark is too smart to have a boat.  He says that his house is his boat.  And a worthy boat it is indeed.

Loft off Second Floor

Cool Swing Out Screen in Main BR