Moving Hat 2

I'm catching up with some posts and some pictures since we've been moving the last couple of weeks and thought that some family members would appreciate this one of "the moving hat." We're sending it along to the next person who is moving...I wonder who will get it!


And here is a picture of my office - what a mess – but at least I kind of know where everything is and can get through a day without too much disruption. I don't have to stand on my toes to see out the window but I do look out over the street and Mt Jumbo.


And who said that cardboard box furniture can't be "classied up" with a handknit doily!


I've also posted some pictures on flickr - the before pictures. We don't have an after yet…that will come in the next year! The house is still a mess but we are getting there and starting to find places for everything.

Here are some view pictures, also on flickr.

Food, glorious food!

One of our last big meals at our old house was prepared by our friend Bob, who is an exceptional cook and wine conesoiur. We had some nice halibut in the freezer and he made us an incredible dinner using the halibut as the main showpiece. Here you see sauted leek straws and grated horseradish and thyme encrusted halibut with a clive oil drizzled over top - incredible!

For the chive oil take a bunch of fresh chives and 1/2 cup of nice olive oil (or until they are covered) and put them in a blender of food processor and puree until smooth. You can strain it through cheese cloth or a small strainer if you want to.



And we had enough of the halibut to make sandwiches the next day and they were equally as delicious as leftovers!

Christen and I were talking about kiwiberries when we were in Denver together. One of us most have seen a recipe somewhere or saw in on a menu. Every since our discussion about them, they have been on my mind. And boy, was I surprised, when a 1/2 pint of them showed up in my food box last week. They are really delicious - just like a mini-kiwi with an edible skin much like a guava. They seem to be really ripe so I had to eat them quickly before the spoiled. Plus I popped a few in the freezer to try out later, much as I've done before with grapes. A juicy little popcicle to roll around in your mouth!

Mt Roberts Trail

Before moving, before all the travels, Tim and I had a fantastic hike up the Mt Roberts Trail without the benefit of the summer-time tram to get us to the top.

We started out on Basin Road and slowly climbed through the woods.


The trail was a little muddy but not as bad as it could have been. We went on this hike before we had any big rain deluges so common in September and October.


Just after where the trail meets up with the Star Hill neighborhood trailhead there is a nice little lookout with a bench and a covered sitting area. This looks out over the "flats" and the federal building.


And the view from the tramway area looking up and down the gastineau channel can be breathtaking!




On the way back we thought we'd sit a spell!

Go Avs!

Ashley scored some amazing tickets for the Colorado Avalanche-Detroit Red Wings hockey game while we were in Denver. The Pepsi Co. Stadium was just a short walk away from our hotel and we grabbed some dinner along they way. It was a great game - the Avs won 3-1. But the company was even better - Tim and Heidi won!

Sitka Weekend

We had a great, but fast, visit to Sitka this last weekend. We took the ferry over and it was an enjoyable 4-hour cruise both ways. The schedule changed a little from normal due to a wrestling, volleyball, and swimming tournament/meet in Sitka. When we heard that there might be a bunch of HS kids on board we were prepared for a lot of energy. I have to say there were a bunch of really nice, well behaved kids on board. Most of them were doing their homework or sitting and listening to music. We happened to be sitting by one of the wrestling teams. Their coach had brought the scales aboard and they all had to weigh in. I felt pretty guilty and didn't really enjoy having my snack while watching some of the boys put on all of their sweats, overshirts, down coats, hats, etc. and do jumping jacks, sit-ups, etc. for hours while I sat on my butt eating and knitting. Tim kept making slurping noises in hopes that it would help them to loose weight by drooling.

Sitka is such a beautiful place and just about every time we got there we have nice weather. This weekend was no exception. The wind came up and blew for a bit and we had a rain storm just as we headed out the door for a walk, but neither one lasted very long and we enjoyed walking from the folk's house to all the harbors looking at boats, watching the birds, and enjoying being outside.

I have an admission to make. I started this post in April after I went to Sitka to meet up with Tim after a work meeting. I had the opportunity to walk around Sitka by myself, looking and going where I wanted to. It was a glorious day and I had fun exploring.

Here are some pictures from that visit:

Cresent Harbor with the Lighthouse in the background:




Russian History is much more prominent in Sitka than in other places in Alaska. I haven't been to Kodiak since high school but I image that Kodiak has a similar atmosphere.

Here is a replica of a Russian Block House used when the Russian-American Company was doing business.




And the lighthouse - I'm not sure if you can still rent this out for sleep-overs or not. I've had friends in the past who have done that and have had fun. We often thought about doing for Thanksgiving or a long weekend but haven't acted on it.


And looking back towards St Michael's from the bridge:


And the commercial harbor from the bridge:

The sun is getting lower in the sky - only the tops of the mountains are seeing much sunshine.

change in season

Shooting star from early summer…


Snow creeping down Mt Roberts last week…


Rising moon down the Gastineau Channel by Sandy Beach…


I can tell that winter is coming because the mallards are spending more time in front of the house. At the height of summer they disappear and then this time of year they start to gather again and hang out day and night.

Crow Hill - Gastiineau Meadows Trail

This trail follows part of the Treadwell Ditch that runs from Eagle Crest to Treadwell. Most of the ditch is covered with rotting wood slats but some of that has rotten away leaving a trough of water. If it was cleaned up it might make for quite a "tube-ride" but it doesn't really get warm enough for that here.


We walked this trail soon after helping Trail Mix out on a trail out at Pearl Harbor so we were enture to the process. There is a bridge that they built using local trees.


The planking was a little uneven but it was rough-up so it shouldn't been too slick after it wears down and gets water logged.


Looks like they were skinning this tree to use as a bridge over a deep and wet gully. It was a very large tree. Notice anything in this picture that is missing?


There is no bark on the ground. We looked all over and could find where they had pull the strips bark from the tree. We didn't see any evidence of a campfire if they burned them. I can't image that they would haul them out and it didn't look like they had raked the ground up. Its a mystery!

Once you get up high you run into alpine meandows and lots of little ponds. Doesn't this look like a great spot to see a Moose? I always look but never see one.


And at the end (at least for us) Upper Lawson Creek:

Did you hear that?

This was one big tree. You wonder what could be so forceful to take something like this down!

More Beach finds

It was a beautiful night for a beach walk although we had huge gusts of winds today (up to 25) according to this graph but I'm sure that down here on the water it was much higher.

I made sure I didn't have and blowing sand in my eyes when I saw this in the distance…


Yep - a pineapple? Do you think it floated all the way from the tropics?

West Glacier Trail 09

We had a nice walk on the West Glacier Trail. As we started out it started to rain but we were prepared for it. By the time we got done with the 5-mile hike it was pouring and we were very wet. Its always nice to get back to the nice, dry car and shed the sticky layers.

The first part of this trail would be a great little bike ride but it quickly starts uphill with switch backs and some boulder climbing. We have seen bikers on the upper trail but I'm just not that good of a mountain biker to attempt it.


Of course when it is cloudy you the blue of the old ice really shows better.


We haven't been up here for a couple of years but you can definitely seen the glacier mass decreasing in just that short time.

September 2009:


August 2007: (Boy that was a nice day!)


You definitely get a different view of the glacier from this side – here is Nugget Falls and the Visitor's Center from across the lake.


The trail – the rain had steadily gotten worse since we started out and the trail became a small creek bed!

Granite Creek

We made it to Granite Creek before the snow started flying - its been on our list ever since we made our first attempt a couple years ago but had to turn around due to snow cover over a steep ridge - and us without our ice picks (or whatever you call them).

It was a warm out and the clouds deceived us into wearing long pants. It was very windy along the first part of the trail around the "horn" on Perserverance Trail - at one point it was a bit much and you had to really lean into it! We got pelted with little stones from the cut bank.

But it was all worth it. There were so many people out and about on the trail - we didn't go more then a few minutes without passing some coming in or going out. Looking back towards the basin – I think this is Icy Gulch.




When we got to the turn-off for Granite Creek we met a group of people who said there was a large group of sheep on the ridge. We counted at least 25 – look at all the white streaks!

Oct COASST Survey/Fishing adventure

We had a beautiful weekend bird survey this month and celebrated our one-year anniversary of not finding any dead birds! YEAH! On this adventure, friends David and Kristy joined us on our quest.

In celebration, we decided to extend our stay on the beach and do a little casting. I would say fishing, but both Tim and David checked the regulations to see how many we could keep (6 each) and then I put an empty 40-gallon cooler in the back of the car. So we really only did some casting.


The wildlife viewing was really great though – we saw humbacks, harbor seals, a couple pods of killer whales, ducks, geese, ravens, eagles, and a ton of gulls. We even two a couple of fish follow the lures in but no bites.

Cappy in the Fog

Fog this morning - it is supposed to get up to 50 and sunshine today. If you look hard enough towards the sky you can see some blue up there.

There aren't any cruiseships scheduled but there is some big ship coming up the channel. It has been blowing its fog horn for about 25 minutes. It may be a supply barge or something else. It doesnot sound small.

We've had a small fishing boat and skiff anchored out in front of this house since this weekend. It it interesting to watch it when the tide changes. First it is right in front of the living room picture window and then it is gone - floating towards town. It seems like it is sitting right in the middle of the channel but boats don't seem to be bothered.

Oct is supposed to be the rainy month and so far yesterday was pretty rainy but today looks like a lovely, cool, autumn day - can't wait for the weekend!

Jami, Doug and Darby

We spend an afternoon with our friends from Sitka who were on their way over to Haines and the Yukon Territory. A walk at Mendenhall Glacier seemed like a good place to have a nice walk and a good visit.

At one point, Darby decided that walking wasn't fast enough and decided to slide down this big piece of granite.



I think maybe it might have been easier (and less of a burn) if there had been snow covering the rock facing! Those are some hot pants!



Darby had fun finding pieces of white quartz amongst darker rocks. We didn't see any gold seams in the quartz though. darn


Nugget Falls was really running after the rain we had earlier in the week.

Low bush Cranberries

I was in Fairbanks a couple weeks ago. I like Fairbanks in the fall, especially when I get a chance to be out in the woods. The smells are so alive when the temperature starts to drop and the added moisture of the cool temps which means dew (or frost) at night and the beginning decay of the plants. There aren't any low bush cranberries down here, or at least that I have been able to find. Someone told me that you could find that in the alpine meadows and I often see greenery that seems like it should be low bush but I never see any berries.

I found some along the ski trails at the university and I think I picked enough for cranberry sauce for 1 turkey!

When my sister came from Anchorage she brough a pint jar filled with lowbush cranberries so I think I'm now set for the winter!

Spicy Thai Sauce

Here is a great recipe for a spicy sauce to go with just about any combination of meat, fish, and veggies:

1 T fish sauce
1 t sugar
1 t soy
1 t chili sauce
2 T chicken broth
1 t minced garlic

This makes sauce for about 1 serving.

We have had it with halibut, chicken, pork, green beans, broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms, or whatever is left over in the frig. We usually serve with rice but it would be good with soba or rice noodles too.

Weekend with my Sister

My sister came this weekend and it sure what great to have her here! It was nice to show her more about what our surroundings are like and to experience some of things that we like to do.

And of course, a picture with Cappy was required!



There was a New York Times article printed recently that talked about what do to in Juneau if you only had 36 hours.

Here is a short list:

1. buy xtra tuffs - She already has nice hiking boots
2. switzer creek trail - We didn't do the switzer creek trail but we did go to Outer Point Trail in North Douglas. This trail goes through the rain forest and winds through a couple different ecosystems from the forest to the beach.
   
3. have fish at hangar on the wharf - we had a nice lunch at the hangar with Terry. We didn't haven't salmon though - Roxi had blackened chicken, I had Jambalaya and Terry had the seafood chowder!
   
4. perseverance theater - We went to "Skin of our Teeth" It was really long and a bit confusing but the acting was very good. We also went to the pipe organ concert that is offered at the state office building on Friday afternoon.
   
5. see sea life - We drove out to 32 mile and saw humpback whales and harbor seals from the house.
   
6. downtown bar hopping and mexican food - didn't go out drinking this time (have to save something for next time) but we had some delicious roasted anaheim peppers stuffed with blackbeans/corn/cheese in corn tortillas at the house
   
7. history: state museum/evergreen cemetery - we chose to learn our history with a tour of the UAS campus where we saw a totem pole that is in progress. We also walked back to Ernest Gruening's cabin at Amagla harbor.
   
8. downtown shopping while cruise ship in town - spend time (and money) at Changing Tides and a few other gift stores and watched all the people
   
9. bookstore
10. Mediterranean dining - is pastrami stromboli bread mediterranean?
    
11. Drink Coffee - We don't drink coffee - we drink tea and had some at the house
    
12. Mendenhall Glacier - we didn't hike back to the falls but we got a good look of the glacier, waterfall and ice bergs in the lake all from the pavillion.
    

Trail Mix Volunteer Opportunity

Tracy got us going and several of us went out to the Jensen-Olson Arboretum out the road, right past the Shrine, to help Trail Mix put in a trail through the woods from the highway to a nice look-out over the Breadline. I volunteered to wield a pulaski and attack roots and stumps that might trip someone up. It was great work for me to wack away with as much force as I could muster.


At some point I was I clearing away the muck to make room for a chainsaw to make quick work of some limbs that were in the way.



I think I was hitching a ride in one of the wheelbarrows when I took this one! But here is the gravel pathway that was being laid down.


And part of the trailing building included stripping logs that were cut from on-premise to be used as stairs. After about 4 hours of wielding my wacker my hards were tired and I couldn't hold my camera steady...


There was another work party a couple of weeks ago, but we couldn't make it. Hope to get out in the near future to see if the work was completed.

more on carrots - or their look alike

Tim and I had a nice walk up the road to the Salmon Creek Powerhouse. As we were walking up the very steep starting hill it reminded me a lot of the hill up to Ullerhaven, part of the equinox marathon trail. I know this picture doesn't give a good representation of the elevation but if you could have been walking beside me, you would have heard the elevation-exertion I felt by my hard breathing.



The leaves are being to change here and the fireweed has topped out. From very far away you could spot this fungus along the roadside.


I actually thought that someone had been making carrot flowers to decorate a fresh green salad!

Fun Carrots

We have been enjoying a variety of carrots lately, courtesy of our Full Circle Farm box: white, orange and purple. To me, they all have a similar taste but they sure add color when you mix them with other vegetables!


I've heard that if you over eat orange carrots and get too much beta carotene in your system your skin may turn orange so I wondered if the same thing would happen if you ate a bunch of purple carrots. I mean, that would be kind of cool if you were a Minnesota Vikings. Here is what I found out about purple carrots …

And of course you probably can't read this image (despite how good your eyes are from eating orange carrots ) so you'll have to go to this website were the image above is reprinted with permission: FirstJuice.

Wonder Chocolate Cake

Got the chocolate munchies late last night and wanted something quick so I pulled this recipe from my Mom's collection. She has Grandma written on the card. Also known and Wacky cake, the recipe became popular during war times as well as during the depression when it wasn't easy to get butter and eggs.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Put in shifter (ha!) below ingredient all together and sift in 8x8 cake pan (ungreased)
1 1/2 c flour
3 T cocoa
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
1 t baking soda

If you don't use a sifter, then mix up dry ingredients with a fork until well blended.

Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients (1 large and 2 small). In large hole add 6 T vegetable oil, in 1 small hole pour 1 T vinegar and in the other small hole pour 1 t vanilla.

Pour 1 c cold water over mixture and stir with fork but do not beat. Stir quickly until just a few streaks of flour mixture remain. Since this recipe has no eggs in it, when the vinegar and baking soda meet their reaction causes the batter to rise.

Pop in a 350° oven for 35 minutes. Let cool and dust with powder sugar.

Tim is often suspicious when I bake something. I guess he expects baked goods to have flax seed or some kind of fruit replacement for shortening or extra fiber or some other hidden ingredient. Since he is also nut-sensitive maybe he is just making sure I'm not trying to poison him. When he accused me of doing something to the cake I realized that it is a special cake - its vegan!

We found something!

Last weekend was our 12th COASST dead bird survey on Boy Scout Beach. We chose a great time of the day to go - we got there about 30 minutes before the high tide. The day was overcast but warm - we wore t-shirts and shorts but had our rain gear with us just in case.

And we found a bird wing! whoo hooo - yippee!


We can't write it down on our survey sheet because it has to have a foot attached but we got out the identification book, measuring tool, and other scientific tools (plastic glove, etc.) and went through the motions. We knew right off it was a Glaucous-Winged Gull but we went through the identification process anyway just to make sure we remembered how to do it.

We did look around for other body parts but I'm sure they were picked up by a scavenger before we arrived.


We also saw a bunch of live birds too - mostly shore birds on their way south: Semipalmated Plover and some Least Sandpiper in a mixed group and a lone Whimbrel.

Egg Foo Yung

I've had this recipe for many years and have always found it to be delicious!

Egg Fog Young
4 eggs
1/2 c meat (we have never made it with any meat)
1 c bean sprouts (if using canned, drain and put in ice water to crisp. Drain well and pat dry)
1 T minced green onion
2 T soy sauce

In mixing bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add meat, sprouts, onions and soy. Add oil to wok and heat to mideum. At 1/4 of mixture to pan and fry until golden on bottom. Turn over and brown. I usually add all the mixture to a large pan and then divide it into four sections before turning over.

*I 've tried making this with egg beaters and it didn't come out very well so since then I have only used real eggs.

This is probably the best part:

Brown Sauce
mix and heat over medium heat until thick
2 T soy
2 t sugar
2 T green onion, chopped
2 T oyster sauce
1 T sherry (or leave out)
1 c chicken broth
1 1/2 to 2 T corn starch

* this actually makes more sauce then you would probably need for the egg foo mixture. We always have a lot left over.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Ah - I know that Kim has given me her recipe for this delicious blueberry dessert that she is always asked to bring to gatherings but I somehow lost the recipe and had to look online to find one. I found a substitute on Recipezaar and it is so yummy. If you have fresh or frozen berries that you want to use instead of the pie filling try: 3 c blueberries, 3T flour or tapioca 1 3/4 c sugar and 1/8 t salt. Might need to add a bit more thickening if the berries are frozen and retained water.