Why we have such great Thai food

Fairbanks has a big enough Southeast Asian community to host a Thai Laos festival.

That is all I have to say today.

Aaaaawww!

St. Bernards!

Huge! They were huge! The one on the right was a pup and the same size as my girls combined! The one on the left was fully-grown and had paws bigger than my hand! I used to want a big cuddlebug of a dog like that, but then came to realize that 1) They drool, 2) They smell, and 3) I would never be able to carry one if it got hurt. I could carry Linden up the hill back to the house when she hurt her shoulder. But if my beloved old theoretical Newfie were to collapse, what would I do? Anyway, Autumn is very cuddly in her own right, so I don't need a newfie any more. :)

And--behbehhippo!

(photo courtesy of the Zoo Antwerpen. More of his photos here.)

Misc

Doesn't this dog look sweet? He was in the parking lot at Freddie's.

I only just realized while cropping/resizing the photo that that binder is labeled "Organic Apples". I only know one person who's grown apples in the Interior for more than personal use. He used to come to the Farmer's Market, but I haven't seen him in two years. His apples were small and tart, but nice and crunchy. They baked up nicely. My neighbor down the road has some trees from him, as well as some cherry trees. I am both impressed and skeptical, but he says he only put in the trees two years ago, and within the first year they had already produced a tiny amount of fruit.

This is where a wood pile used to reside. I am going to let this ground recover now. After hauling all that wood up the hill, I don't think I'll be using this area for wood storage any more!


The hill side is beautiful from that spot. I couldn't quite capture it in a photograph. It's so lush and green, and dotted as far as the eye can see with roses and bluebells.

Caught in a hailstorm

There had been thunderclouds gathering every evening this week, but it wouldn't start to rain until later in the night. So we'd been going for nice, cool evening walks. But yesterday, when were were about 2 miles from the house, the clouds burst and began pouring rain. That was uncomfortable, but tolerable, until hailstones joined the rain. Dangit! I thought to take temporary shelter at the next house that had a covered porch, but, surprisingly none of my neighbors that way have a porch! Something I hadn't realized until yesterday. So the girls and I high-tailed it home, the hailstones pelting us and the rain drenching us the whole way. When we got to our own (singular) porch, I toweled off the girls, then peeled off my T-shirt, pants, and socks, and wrung them out and hung them outside. Then I stepped inside and peeled off my underthings and wrung them out, along with my hair, in the sink.

And my forearms looked like this:

Right arm:


Left arm:


And this morning, when we stepped outside, the air smelled sweet and fresh, like roses and Spring dirt.

First salad share

Picked up straight from Rosie Creek Farm, where they had been picked that morning:

I have no idea what that is in the bunch in the middle. I thought I'd either stir-fry it with garlic, or put it into soup. Most greens are okay like that. :)

I have been having fantastic salads with fancy oils and vinegars and fresh cheese, this time made with milk from Matanuska Creamery, which I purchased at local foods vendor extraordinaire, HomeGrown Market:

As always, I welcome any suggestions of what to do with whey!

Matanuska Creamery Milk:

Misc

A bored dog, a happy dog, and my last half cord of wood to split and stack for next Winter:



This one patch of my yard looks almost like I planned it, with these few rose stems above the little purple flowers:


It was too hot to heat up the kitchen in any way the other day, so I roasted potatoes by bringing the toaster oven outside:


Backed up, so you get the full effect. :)

I insist that you look at every photo

in this slide show of behbeh moosage.