Tsunami? What Tsunami.

After the massive earthquake in Chili, the Oregon Coast was under a tsunami advisory. Not a warning, like they had in Hawaii. They were expecting the waves to peak around 2:30 PM yesterday here. So we were interested in seeing a wave 90 degrees to the normal waves we get on the beach. Laura and I went out to the beach to watch, and wait. Nothing noticeable to report.

We have met a quite a few people from Hawaii, or who are now living in Hawaii, so we were concerned to what the magnitude and effect the tsunami would have on the islands. Through the facebook postings, we found out all was well.

So that leads us to today's salt and peppers. Our friends know about our collection at The Craftsman B&B and when they travel, they look for ugly S&P's for us. This set is from Hawaii, but could be from anywhere in the tropics. You would have believed these came from Tahiti, or Greneada, or Bora Bora, but they didn't. They are genuine Hawaiian.

After being in the Bay area for the big quake in 1989, I know the damage it can cause first hand. This quake was much worse and I hope the Chilean people come out of this disaster and are able to rebuild their lives. So if you r are so inclined, give to the red cross to help these people out.

How hoppy is your beer?

Beer drinking isn't like is was 30 years ago, partly because beer making has evolved. Smokey and the Bandit was a movie about smuggling Coors Beer. Being a Colorado Native, a lot of people smuggled Coors Beer in the 70's. Due to the company policy that the beer always had to be cold, they limited it's distributorship to the West. Most house guests we had growing up took home Coors Beer. It was rare and different then what they could get at home. It's a light beer, great for a hot Summer day or to chug after a softball game, I don't know why I know this.

Not that this blog is about Coors, but it is about a beer that is limited in distribution and production. If you are a beer drinker with any merit in your exploration of the liquid arts, you know about Pliny the Elder. This double hopped beer from Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, California. This is one of the top beers in the world and I have blogged about it before. It's hoppy, real hoppy. That is not my taste in beer so I am in the minority.

Well, there is a limited time of the year when the Hoppiest beer I have ever tasted is released. Pliny the Younger! 11.0%ABV, 1.098 O.G, GOBS of BUs, that's beer talk. Pliny the Younger was Pliny the Elder's nephew, in the case of this beer, the "Younger" is a triple IPA, hopped three times more than Russian Rivers standard IPA, and is dry hopped four different times.

So where can I get this beer? In Pacific City, at Twist, tonight! Why is tonight in bold? Because people from all over will be there for this nectar and the keg will be empty before the night is out, trust me on that.

The best part about you coming to try this beer is The Craftsman B&B is walking distance to Twist. No drinking and driving in Pacific City, all the pubs and tasting rooms are walking distance. Don't forget to sample the wines from Basket Case, Shy Chenin, Reversal and Stumbling Block.

If your stuck in Portland and want to try some beers, check out Bailey's Taproom. But I got to warn you, beer and wine taste better at the beach.

Three Capes on Video

Here is another one of Grants Getaways.

Grant's Getaways - Three Capes Scenic Drive from Travel Oregon on Vimeo.

Grant stops at all the good spots and talks to Darron at The Pelican Pub & Brewery, just a mile and a quarter walk up the beach from The Craftsman B&B.

See why we love Pacific City?

Pruning Time

Mid Febuary and your reading a blog about gardening. Well, now is the time of year where you need to spend time in the garden to make sure your spring and summer gardens will look good.

Traditionally, you should prune your tea roses on Presidents Day. Because it's so close to Valentines Day, I wait until I get a nice day so I'm not pruning in a downpour. But the absolute limit is when pitchers and catchers show up for spring training.

Today's salt & peppers are rose buds. Kind of the theme of the blog, if you haven't noticed, that's the point.

We have had some awesome weather in Pacific City this week. I cut the grass yesterday and plan on tackling the roses today. I don't have as many as I had when we were in Lake Oswego. There I had about 20 tea roses and 3 climbers. Here at The Craftsman B&B, I have half a dozen and 2 climbers. All in the back yard as the deer love roses.

Do not compost your rose cuttings! You all know I like to be as green as possible, but roses are the first plants to get funky disease, mold and other nasty illnesses you don't want spread all over your yard via the compost. You may have seen a lot of vineyards with roses at the end of the rows. They do this as a gauge of the health of the vineyard. A rose will show the signs of black spot and other diseases first, so the problems can be addressed before the vines are attacked. Farmers are smart!

If I have time, I will also prune the fuchsia down to the ground, I do this every other year. The ornamental grasses get whacked to the ground and the apple trees get any branch growing vertical pruned.

Then it's chipping time. I grew up in Denver where nothing grows, now I live where you need a chipper to maintain a basic small garden. So get out there and prune your roses down to a few strong canes. Cut just above an outward facing bud and if your roses have already started like they have here on the Oregon coast, don't worry about cutting off some growth. Remove dead canes too, you want a nice vase shape when your done.

If you don't have roses, go get some. Bare root are the best, soak them in a bucket of water overnight and plant. Some come in a box and you plant the entire box. Check out Jackson & Perkins for ideas, and you can get J&P roses at Costco.

Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day! Yeah, I know, it's not an exciting holiday. Unless your in school or work for a bank. But a lot of people have the day off so it's a holiday none the less. Being the day after Valentines Day was a help to a busy weekend at The Craftsman B&B.

Back to the Salt & Pepper collection and today's are new to the collection. A fellow Oregon Bed & Breakfast Guild innkeeper, Debbie Lusk of The Pfeiffer Cottage Inn in Albany wrote a blog about an antique store and posted a picture of these S&P's. I, of course had to comment on them and after a few days, they were in my mail box.

I rarely buy S&P's, they have to be real ugly for me to think about them. My collection has grown from nice people giving them to me. I like to challenge my friends and family to find the ugliest ones they can. I get my share of cute ones too.

What can you find?

In Box Surprise!

We have returned from our vacation only to find 256 e-mails waiting to be answered. Over the 2 weeks we were sailing in the Caribbean, I checked my e-mail at Internet cafes, just for reservations. I replied to those and added them to my calender, 20 bookings!

I have spent the last few days sorting all the e-mail and opening them by groups that send me e-mail, The Oregon Bed & Breakfast Guild and our local Chamber of Commerce got first attention as I am on the Board of Directors. Yesterday I was caught up and then today I got an e-mail from LanierBB.com titled "Congratulations on your LanierBB.com Award!"

A while back The Craftsman B&B won Best of the West from BedandBreakfast.com so another award sure was nice to hear about. The BedandBreakfast.com award was about our service and reviews. This award from Lanier is about the Best Period Restoration in their Guests’ Greatest Picks Award program out of 8,500 B&B’s world wide!

We spent 2 years restoring this house and it was a lot of work. We love our house and the Craftsman style. We spent so much time deciding how the B&B would look and researched endlessly to be accurate with our furnishings and fixtures. Our goal was for the guest to open the door to 1921. Everything you see in the house would have been in a house of this era.

It's gratifying to see that not only is our service award worthy, but also the work we did to make the Craftsman B&B a special place for our guests too.