a crab care package

This is Porter investigating a cooler we received from a friend in Gustavus last week. He knows a good thing when he smells it, because inside is about 20 dungeness crab.

Gustavus is a remote community west of here. It's located right on the water where the fishing is plentiful. They don't have any tourist industry, no industry actually except for Glacier Bay National Park which is nearby. It's a wonderful little place. I'd like to live there. It's a place where you would, without a doubt, know all your neighbors and live a quiet life. You'd wear flannel shirts in the summer and wool shirts in the winter. You'd always be wearing some kind of hat. And XtraTuff rubber boots. You wouldn't worry so much if you didn't take a shower that day because chances are, you wouldn't see anyone. You would downsize before moving out there, keeping only the essentials; you wouldn't require a lot of fluff in this new life. You would live with nature and live pretty much off the land. You would come into town (Juneau) a few times a year to shop. Life would be simple.

We have a friend who used to come to Juneau to fish every summer. He fell in love with Alaska and ended up moving to Gustavus where he built his own little homestead. Gary keeps us supplied with fresh dungee crab, halibut, and shrimp. We love Gary!

We usually eat crab for a couple nights and then crack and freeze it for quiches later on.

This was our dinner one night--crab louie (salad), a crab quiche, and rosemary/garlic bread. Yummy!

Here's the recipe for the crab quiche:

Crab Quiche

Pastry for 9" pie crust

1 cup crab meat, pat dried

1 cup swiss cheese, shredded

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

1/3 cup finally chopped onion

4 eggs

2 cups whipping cream

3/4 tsp salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Sprinkle crab, cheeses, and onion in pastry-lined pan.

Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. pour into pie plate.

Bake uncovered 15 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. I usually end up having to cook it for much longer than 30 minutes though.

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

This is so good, hot, warm, or cold. Enjoy!

TAG, you're it!

I've been tagged by Lazylol from the UK. I don't know anyone international so this is exciting. I have to say, I've visited many British blogs but.... honestly... half the time I don't know what they're talking about! They speak a whole different language than we do... I apologize, in advance, for insulting anyone, but I suspect we have words that are as equally confusing. Okay, so I don't exactly know the rules but I think I'm supposed to share eight things about myself. I have to say that I have a very boring life, just ask my son. He's always telling me so, so it must be true! Growing up wasn't much better. But here goes. Eight things.....

1. I didn't really think I was afraid of bugs until yesterday.... A lady came to the nursery, holding a mason jar with a half eaten leaf, this 3" long black, slimy thing the thickness of a pen, and all kinds of unmentionables in the jar.... She wanted to know what kind of caterpillar it was. Besides BUTT UGLY???? I asked????? She kept trying to hand the jar over to me of which I finally took and holding it at arm's length, she goes, "you really don't like looking at it do you?" Ya think? I was ready to pass out. Honest to goodness, I was ready to throw up; my legs were weak; and I was light headed. I didn't know until that moment that bugs bothered me....

2. Which leads me into my second fearful item. I am, without a doubt, terrified of snakes. There's no question about it. I don't want to see a picture in a magazine or a snake on tv; I don't want to hear the grass move or see it slithering away. I hate snakes. It goes back to my childhood. I used to be tomboyish and remember even letting a little garden snake slither over my white tennies. One day I recall telling my mom about a snake I saw behind the garage and she said, "do not go back there!" So what did I do???? I went behind the garage.... The snake moved. I ran. And it wasn't until later that I noticed I had a big hole, the size of a quarter, in the side of my leg. It wasn't bleeding. It was just this big hole. Evidently when I ran, I ran into a pointy branch that cut a hunk out of my leg. I didn't cry. My mom thought it would turn out okay if we just let it be.... To this day I have an upside down heart scar on my leg that no one... no one..... is allowed to touch. It doesn't hurt. It just gives me the willies.

3. Since I'm on a roll of scary things, how about I'm afraid of being alone. I'm 55 and afraid of being alone. Mostly at night. Again, this goes back to my childhood. We lived along the railroad tracks. Well, originally it was the trolley car (does that date me or what?!). But we had "hobos" that walked up and down the tracks. We also had "peeping toms." One night when I was about 8, I went into my bedroom and heard the bedroom window opening (or possibly closing), and I ran so fast back into the living room and hid behind my mom who was sitting on the couch. Our dad was in the veteran's hospital at the time and it was just my mom and us four kids. My oldest sister, Georgia, put on my dad's overcoat and hat and with a bat in one hand and a fake, deep voice, scoped the rest of the house out to make sure no one had come inside. Today, I am still afraid of the dark. Of being in the house, at night, alone. Of shadows. Of strange noises. BUT, I no longer take a knife to bed with me when my husband is away. Yes, I am a scaredy cat...

4. I love crawfish! We used to catch them as a child and my mom would cook them in a large canner. She added pickling spices is all, I believe, and they were finger licking good. Gross as it might seem, I'll even suck the guts out, eat the fat in the stomach, and eat the meat behind the eyeball. Sad but true!

5. I love playing games: Scrabble, Mexican dominoes, dice, cards, Yatzee. I don't know cribbage or chess and really don't have any desire to learn them.

6. I was married for 21 years but it just didn't work out. We have two children, Tracy and Bucky. We've been divorced for 15 years. I've been remarried to my perfect soul mate and best friend for 12 years now. But, Soapy (my ex) and I are still friends. He's been our realtor, he gives us King crab and venison, I give him zucchini bread and cookies. We even spend holidays and other important events together like the kids' birthdays. It hasn't always been this way but it's a good place to be. My kids didn't ask for a broken home but I think they would agree that we're all in better places, happier places, and that's worth something. Is it strange spending Thanksgiving with your ex? Yea, a little, but it works for us.

7. This is probably no secret but I love chocolate. I love candy. I love sweets. I I had to give it up tomorrow, I don't know if I could.... Give me Junior Mints, peanut butter cups, or chocolate covered cherries and I'm one happy camper.

8. I believe in Santa.

So there you have it. The good, the bad, and the ugly! Now I'm supposed to tag other people. It gets hard at this point because I'm sure everyone has already been tagged more than once but here's a couple I'm hoping hasn't been tagged recently.

Tracy at Simply Blissful
Connie at Notes from a Cottage Garden
Deb at Homespun Living

just things

I don't really want to spend a lot of time thinking about what to write on my blog today so will just write some things that are "out there."

First, I've been nominated for the Rockin Girl Award by my daughter, Tracy! Me, Rockin??? Maybe a few years ago I was rockin a little more than today. Some days I just feel like I need a rockin chair.... Blog awards are fun; they certainly make us feel special. I nominate Tina at Cherry Hill Cottage and A Pink Bee at Fairiebees because I never get tired of their creative ideas.

My husband and I run Doggy Day Care four days a week. Not really.... but it seems we always have more dogs than our own little Sadie on any given day. Maybe it's our big, fenced yard. Maybe it's the cookies.... Maybe it's just that we love them. Whatever, dogs LOVE coming here! We watch Kona, my son's dog, four days a week because she didn't take kindly to moving out a year ago.... If left to her own devices during the day when Bucky and Michelle are working, she chews up the door. So they have to bring her over here. And I don't blame her for loving our place. We have the big, fenced yard to run in and low windows to look out of and a comfy couch that is all hers. It's truly a great place for dogs. And now with Tracy out of town and Adam working, we have Porter. He loves it here too, loves our Sadie. He's still a young pup; about a year old but is doing really well. This was the scene a few minutes ago. Honestly, I didn't drug them or beat them! It was just nap time! Sadie was sleeping on the couch (her picture didn't turn out; too dark). My hubby is fishing with Ray today and Timber (Ray's extremely large malamute) wanted so badly to stay and play at Doggy Day Care that Ray had to literally shove his big butt out the door to get him to leave. It was pretty funny. Like I said, dogs love it here. Go figure.

This is Monkey Bread I made this morning. I love it and it's so simple to make. Here's the recipe:

4 small or 2 large refrigerated buttermilk biscuits. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Cut each biscuit in fourths and roll each piece in sugar mixture. Place in a well-greased bundt pan. Mix 1 cube margarine (melted), 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Pour butter mixture over biscuits. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

the real me

Today I have a dirty little secret to share....

It has to do with blogging.

And it has to do with your blogs....

Have you ever noticed that you never see any real photos of my home? Everything I show is usually a closeup.

Know why?

It's because my house isn't a picture perfect home! It's cluttered, it's dusty, there's dog hair everywhere!

And I'm embarrassed to show it on-line!

Here it is.... This is our home! Mess and all.

Yet, when I visit your blogs, all the nicknack's are sparkling (no dust), your beds are perfectly made with not a wrinkle in the sheets and all the pillows placed perfectly, and not a mess anywhere!

I have to say, it makes me feel somewhat inferior, less than perfect! Embarrassed! Even on my best day, my house doesn't look so sparkling clean! Never is my house decluttered.

Okay, so these pictures are about as bad as it gets, well, excepting for the stack of disorderly magazines and catalogs everywhere....

and the dust bunnies under the chairs ....

and the dishes in the sink....

and the clutter on the counters....

My bed does get tossed together most days, but never will it look picture perfect.

The dog hair is swept up every other day but in between sweeps, you wonder when was the last time.

And for the most part my home is ready for company at a minute's notice. So why can't I show the "real me" on my blog?

It's really not that bad but sometimes I wonder what your homes look like on any given normal day, and not just during a photo shoot.... Is the sun really always shining through your windows? Are your windows always really clean? Are your kitchens really so pefect looking? If I came to visit would I see toothpaste gooped in the bathroom sink? A dirty coffee pot? Unfinished laundry? Piled newspapers?

I love my life. I try to live a balanced, healthy life. I no longer have such a strong need to be perfect.... (yes, Tracy, another inherited trait I'm sorry to say....), to have the perfect life.... I try hard to keep my home looking presentable; clean; decluttered-but-lived in. Maybe I'll just start showing more of the real me and not some version of what I think I should be for others.

talking trash

Here in Juneau our dump is turning into a mountain. Granted, our family hasn't helped the cause any to keep it down. I honestly don't know where all our trash comes from. We have our regular trash pickup on Thursdays, but in addition, we probably take six pickup loads of "stuff" to the dump each year. In our defense, we also offer to take our children's stuff when we go, or when they need something taken, we can usually fill the truck up with our stuff as well. But our dump site is becoming a mountain quite rapidly and I honestly don't know how much higher they can go!

I'd like to say we collect trash from the side of the road just so we can dispose of it, but, sadly, that is not so.... It's just stuff.... sometimes remodeling remnants, a broken water heater, or old chicken wire that no longer has a use. But seriously, where does it all come from? I know of no other family that disposes of so much trash as us!

I always felt we did our share of taking care of the earth. We compost as much as we can. All of our fruits, vegies, coffee grounds, egg shells, get composted into these plastic compost bins. We can easily fill them both up by the end of fall. We don't do a lot of composting in the winter because of snow and ice but I suppose we could put a temporary trash can in the garage and keep it going all year long.

We try to burn all of our cardboard in the back yard. "Try" but often it just gets thrown in the trash. What I would really like is for Costco to not double bag and box their products....

We take all our plastic grocery bags back to a recycle center or our local thrift shop to reuse. I know that cloth bags are the next step; I just have to do it.

I thought we were doing good.... But as I was reading Simply Splendid the other day, I realized that we're not doing all that we could be doing. I don't want to be the cause of a landfill mountain! I want my grandbabies to have a healthy earth to live on, and their grandbabies. So we did what any normal, earth-conscience person would do....

We headed to Fred Meyers and bought plastic containers to hold our recyclable trash in. We don't have curbside recycle here otherwise I think more people would recycle. But we can take it to the dump for free and they ship it down south to recycle centers.

So now, we have a basket for each category at the recycle center: newspapers/catalogs/magazines; aluminum; mixed paper; #1 clear plastic; #2 clear plastic; #2 colored plastic; plastic bags; cans; and bottles.

It does take a conscience effort to take a minute to look on the back of one of those Costco plastic fruit holders to see if it's a plastic #1 or plastic #2 because you can't combine the two in a recycle center. It also takes a minute to save all this trash and take it out to the garage. But we can do it; it won't hurt us.

So, thank you Jeanetta, for being persistent with your "go green" articles. Even if I'm the only person that listened and is taking action.... maybe your next article will bring two more and then three and then pretty soon the whole world will be following in your footsteps! :) We still have a long ways to go. I'd like to learn how to clean without using so many harsh products. And simply not cleaning is not an option! I'd welcome any tips on how to "go green."

There's still a lot we can do but they'll be gradual changes. My hubby can only take so much change in his life. Baby steps. If we all just take baby steps, we will make a difference. Nancy

my pathetic life

Blogging isn't as easy as I thought it would be and most days I struggle to think of something interesting to write about. After all, I want my entries to be interesting with a little humor peppered here and there and maybe a life lesson to contemplate occasionally or a recipe to drool over. I like variety. Then there's the photos to include. But the bottom line is it all takes time. How do you all do it every single day?! I'm retired. I should have plenty of time to keep up my blog, but I don't.

Know why?

I spend too much time taking pictures of lazy dogs....


Of dogs left behind.

Of dogs being spooky....

about shadows on the ceiling....

This is how pathetic my life is!

Occasionally I even play the game "I spy" with objects in the garden.... I spy something that starts with the letter "S." Look closely....


Of reflections in the window and.... I spy two little faces in the bottom pane....


And another reason I don't have more time to blog....

This is Chippy.... He's begging for peanuts.

Need I say more? Pathetic... just pathetic.... Nancy

a road trip to the glacier

Today you get to be a tourist. I thought we'd take a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. It won't take long. And it won't cost you a dime! So come on! Let's go see what's happening at the glacier today!

This is the road to the glacier. It's just about a two mile drive from our home. You can see the top of the glacier there in the middle (the white area).


Since I came to Juneau in 1971, the glacier has receded considerably. Now there's so much rock and mountain exposed. It's a pretty incredible sight. You can sorta get an idea when you look at all the ice that has recently calved off.


I hope you wore some comfortable walking shoes as we'll be venturing out on to the observation trail. The forest service built this incredible trail and viewing areas for tourists where we can observe the bear in their natural habitat (eating, fishing, climbing trees, nursing, snoozing) without the worry of getting mauled. We're in luck today as I see sign of bear!

One of their many fine dining areas along Steep Creek. This creek is a favorite dining spot of theirs as it isn't very deep (inches) and the spawning sockeye salmon plentiful. You can see half eaten salmon along the creek banks.



Another sign of bear: their bathroom.... (the little red specks are either fish eggs or berries. Sorry, but couldn't get close enough (or want to!) to see for sure!


And we're not the only tourists here today. I wonder what they're looking at....


OH! A little black bear! Don't worry. The forest service guide (in the green clothes) has everything under control....


He's not shy around so many people as you can tell. Another forest service guide keeps watch below (his boots). We have plenty of guides around us for protection, if we need it. Don't worry.... They're here to protect us AND the bears and will remind you to talk quietly, walk quietly, hurry along.... as the need arises.


And yet another forest service guide possibly preventing the little guy from getting up onto the trail (and us!).


Even the forest service guides take pictures! Here, the little guy decides just maybe he doesn't want to go any further and returns in the direction he came.


And says "goodbye" for today.


I hear yells, "can we follow him? Can we follow him?"

No, we can't follow him! Why? This is why:




Trail closed for the rest of the season due to increased bear activity. Evidently a couple bear "rushed" some tourists more than once and the forest service had to close the trail to protect us. So the caution signs could keep us from passing through.... but what about bear coming from the other direction?




Hope you enjoyed the tour! Unfortunately, you were looking at the rotting sockeye when Mike and I came upon a momma black bear and two cubs.... One cub was way up high in a cottonwood tree, the other on the ground near its momma. After a bit, the momma walked over to the base of the tree and must have gave the treed baby bear a look, or something, because the bear started making these little bear sounds and scurried back down. Momma and two cubs went to their pad, laid down, and nursed. Sorry you couldn't be there to see it.... Until next time.... N.