As you can expect, my website draws a fairly steady stream of visitors, and I regularly get some very nice notes from folks thanking me for the assistance this site supplies or cursing me for causing the emptying of their bank accounts. Lately I have received more than a few letters pointing my attention to my previous chapter, and doing me the favor of computing how long it has been since I made an addition of note to my efforts here.

      Yes, it has been quite some time, but to be honest, there hasn't been a whole lot to report. Since the addition of the PID, my espresso has been at least highly adequate on a bad day, and good to great all the rest. Day in and day out, delicious espresso flows from the spouts.

      My recent adventures include a blend that has made for some really great drinks- it is: 2 parts Josuma Malabar Gold 2 parts Colombian (or Sumatran) 1 part Costa Rican 1 part Guatemalan.

      There are some other variations, but this seems to make for a very nice cappa.

      Recently, my wife's part-time job has brought us into contact with a class from the local university One of the more motivated students has come up to our home twice now, and we have shared some of the community's history, color, sites and sounds. Being a college student she jumped at the offer of a cappa on her first visit. The sight of it delighted her, and the taste was such that on her second visit she told me that she had been bragging about my coffee to some folks she knows that have started a small commercial roasting enterprise on their farm/co-op/B&B in Mendocino.

      Today, her second time here, the five of us (my wife, Polly, our two German Shepherds, and myself) took a hike up to the Local RAWS automated weather station. The location of the station affords a beautiful view up the Feather River Canyon, and it is a great hike as well. (photo of station available HERE soon and Weather data available HERE. Although the station is located on private property and not accessible to the general public, we are good friends with the owner and have a standing invitation to hike there any time we like. It is isolated, quite, and wooded enough to make the walk one of the simple pleasures that makes life a delight. Standing on the mountain top and looking down at the highway, the railroad and up the Feather River Canyon all the way to the snow-capped Sierra Nevada puts things into perspective.

      Anyway... When we returned she had just enough time to enjoy another coffee. She and the wife "ordered" cappas which were made with the above-mentioned blend, and I had an Americano. Polly relished the beverage, we got to talk for a while, and soon it was time for her to go and catch a class meeting in town.

      On the way out to her car she mentioned that the meeting was at a coffee shop, and I joked that she should be sure to order coffee and then brag about how much better mine was in comparison. She stopped and thought for a moment, and replied, "I think I'll order tea."