Hi!!!

Quite a week!  Anthony's visit was a success - we ate our way through Tuscaloosa, watched a lot of Wimbledon, visited Coweeta, and tried to keep cool in the hot Southern summer.

Here are a couple of albums to our week!  Album 1 and Album 2.

Esja

Wow! I'm having a feeling of deja vu right now. That is not why I'm writing. I'm writing to recount our hike up Esja today. Esja is the large mountain which lies across the bay from Reykjavik. We have been planning this hike for a week or more and since we had a day off today, we went for it. I went with Jim Junker (the other PhD student on the project) and the two undergraduate students, Brooke and Adam.

The trailhead was a short 20 minute drive from Reykjavik. We got there about 10:30am and started hiking shortly after. It was a difficult hike, mostly because Icelanders don't believe in switch-back trails. They just go for it! I won't bore you with any more text and I'll get right to the pictures. Here they are...Esja.

Hi!!!

I write with yet another night of a one person household - sigh.  Anthony's flight into Birmingham got canceled so he's overnighting in Memphis - boo southern summer thunderstorms!!

Tomorrow at 1030am he should be arriving in BHM and we'll continue the southern adventure.  FINALLY we get rain but OF COURSE it comes right when a family member is visiting me...p-shah.  The garden is happy for its drink so I suppose we must be content with that.

I ended up driving into the BHM area to do a little shopping before Anthony's flight came in - but it turns out I just went to BHM for shopping.  Which is fine really - I only went to the Hoover area which is not as far north as the airport.  I got to explore some more which is always fun for me because I love to zip!

1)  I went to the Cajun Cleaver, which is a specialty butcher shop that touts natural and some local meats - yum!  They also had a pretty nice beer selection, and even had some taps of some tasty beers that they will load up in a milk jug for ya to take home and enjoy!  I have been looking for some tasty sausage, and I got a couple of their beer brats and tomato-basil chicken sausages.  I hope to throw them on the grill when Anthony gets in!  I also got 4 Tallgrass IPAs in 16 oz tallboys!  Tasty beers in cans always reminds me of Dan, because he himself gets very excited about canned beer!  I may have to break into one later this evening but I was hoping to wait until Anthony was around...

2) I went to Alabrew and picked up a Rapier Wit kit, based on a beer from Ohio - yippee!!

The description:

This naturally cloudy Belgian white (wheat) beer is subtly spiced with coriander and orange peel which blend naturally with the fruity flavor and aroma provided by the authentic Belgian style yeast. While light and refreshing, this beer finishes with a pleasant creaminess due to the use of nearly 50% unmalted wheat and oats.

It is totally different from the IPA kits we are used to - this one has no grains, no malt extract, but instead a "Wheat extract Spray" which basically looks like flour, and then some Belgian Rock Candy!  Add in a slight amount of bittering hops, and then some orange peel and coriander as aroma!  There is also a special strain of yeast that goes with it as well (it's a bit "spicier"!  Aside from just being interesting, the Wit has the added benefit of only 1 fermentation (we'll do it in the carboy) for 2 weeks and then we can bottle!  Woo hoo!! 5 days after that we should be in beer business!!  That means by mid-July this batch of beer will be done - I hope there's still some around when Dan comes back!! Ha!!

3) I went to the Purple Onion in Hoover on the recommendation of a fellow volunteer I met last weekend - I had the Kafta Pita Wrap and it was DELISH!  I am mad in love with Kafta (or Kofta) and it may be how I judge future Mediterranean restaurants.  Big Daddy's here in T-Town does a mighty fine Kofta burger - maybe it's the allspice that I taste, but it's just super well-spiced with TONS of parsley.  I'll have to give a homemade version a try one day! Yum!!  I have heard the falafel is good which Dan will be excited about - he's into the Falafel and chicken dishes at Med.-themed places, I go for the red meat!

4) On my way home I passed by the Organic Harvest Market.  I stopped in for a peak just because and was pleasantly surprised!!!  The place reminded me of Moscow's Food Co-op, even though it isn't a co-op.  Pleasant lighting and big wide aisles, a huge bulk section, and it was big overall!  Maybe as big as our old Co-op, or just under.  Anyhow, it totally out-shined the natural store here in Tuscaloosa, which I wish was just "more".  It made me super nostalgic for Moscow, and reminded me how Dan and I would always walk downtown in the evening for a dessert there (they were open until 9pm most days!), pick up a fun new beer, and head in for the night...ahhh Idaho....

5) We've got just under 2 months until Dan comes back to T-Town!  Which means I've got that amount of time to finish my thesis!!  Yikes!  Summer is always bittersweet..I saw this today, a little late for Father's Day, but funny nonetheless.  I would paste the pic here, but sometimes I feel I shouldn't overstep copyright issues....

BUT!!!

One copyright I don't mind infringing upon:

Yippee!!! Dan's first article from his Master's work has been published!! Congratulations Dan!!  So very proud of you!!!  Autographed copies may be ordered directly though Daniel Nelson - buy five and get an 8 x 10" glossy headshot for free in his "thoughtful" pose - get yours today!

:)
xo!

p.s. I am now just rereading my text for errors and I am noticing every paragraph ends with a story about Dan...apparently I miss him (awwwwwwwwwwwwwww).

Miss you dear!!xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
:)

Pics!

I finally uploaded some garden pics from the week!

xo!

ct

Yippee!! Rain!!

As I write rain is sprinkling down upon our garden.  I hear thunder in the distance and I think a good ol' southern thunderstorm is heading our way!  From the looks of the radar we're at the southern tip of a big storm sweeping through northern Alabama.  No matter - I'll take what I can get here in a Southern Summer!!!  This is probably only the second time it's rained since Dan's left - which means a lot of watering from the hose.  I can only imagine what the water bill will be!!

The garden seems to be doing well, tomatoes are coming in about one a day or so, one roma tomato has started to turn red, and the zucs and cucs have been producing here and there.  I finally pulled up the broccoli as it was getting pummeled by caterpillars.  No florets ever came to bear, but I did trim and peel the stalk which was tasty - very broccoli tasting plus a little "spiciness" which made my tongue tingle...which I'm hoping wasn't "poisonous"...but I've never heard of a poisonous broccoli stalk...stay tuned for more updates regarding that!  

Our first eggplant is trucking along, and has started turning purple!!  It's just so cute I can't wait to watch it grow more!!!  WHAT THE HECK?!?!  The roma that started turning red yesterday is no longer on the plant ( I can see the garden from my window) - vegetarian squirrel attack?  Did it blow off in the wind?  I'll hafta investigate once the rain subsides...grrr...

One thing that has been eating up my time is this website for Rebuilding Tuscaloosa.  My neighbor introduced me to it and I find it very inspiring!  I started up an account and have been submitting ideas in various categories - including bikes racks, setting up recycling bins, expanding the bike lanes and bike paths around the city, etc.  

A few other items: I bought 3 tix to My Morning Jacket this morning!!  It was easily the best box office experience I've ever had - rolled up at 9:45am to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, waited for the box office to open at 10am, 4 people were in line ahead of me, by 10:06am I had 3 tickets, no service charges, and the biggest grin on my face imaginable!  Tomorrow there is a boxing match at the amphitheater - so it's quite an eclectic venue!!  Also, Tuscaloosa has yet another cupcake shoppe - Sweets Cupcakes just opened today in downtown T-town which is in walking distance for us.  I keep thinking the cupcake bubble's gotta burst soon, but, well it's still here.  What Dan and I wouldn't give for a Pie Lab in Tuscaloosa, serving GOOD coffee (we are official coffee snobs) and maybe some ice cream too - is that too much to ask??

I'll upload more garden pics soon!

xo!

Today is Iceland's Independence Day!

Today (June 17) is Iceland's independence day celebration. Every year on June 17, Icelanders celebrate the day in 1944 that the independent Republic of Iceland was formed. Iceland was under Danish rule for a significant period. During WWII, the Germans occupied Denmark and the British held occupation of Iceland. Therefore, it was easy for Iceland to secede from the Danes.

Reykjavik has almost transformed over night. It is much like our July 4 celebration in the US. Many of the streets downtown are blocked off to car traffic and there are food vendors, street performers, and moon bounces for the kids everywhere. Restaurants have set up grills outside on their patios and there is even a huge stage set up downtown. One can only hope that the stage is for Sigur Ros or even Bjork to perform!

People everywhere are waving mini Icelandic flags. I hear there will be a parade later in the evening and afterward will be when bands take to the stage. The festivities will culminate with the release of thousands of helium filled balloons, much to the dismay of the whales and seabirds I'm sure. I'm looking forward to ditching my computer at my apartment and heading back downtown to take part in the celebration. Nothing says Independence Day celebration like a hot pylsur and a cold Viking!!

Cheers!

Another Post from Dan...From Iceland!

Wow! Chau and I are blogging fools! I just wanted to post some pictures from today. It's some more sciency stuff. I hope you enjoy them. CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM.

One of the endearing personalities on Alabama Public Radio, Kathryn Tucker Windham (or "K.T. Dubs" as Dan and I would call her) passed away last night.

Every Friday morning we would wake up to APR and hear her tell a random story about growing up in the South.  Her stories were always a little nutty and nonsensical, but maybe that's because we're Yankees (I consider California Yankee territory, even though it didn't exist when the term was invented - but maybe my history-buff-newly-minted-University-of-Chicago-professor-best-friend-from-high-school Amy can clarify).  However ridiculous, they stuck in our minds and made us giggle. Trying to feed goats tin cans, buying blocks of ice for the ice box and carrying it home to make a pitcher of sweet tea...little vignettes of everyday life with no real reason to them...just so stories...

Moving from place to place has introduced us to new "radio friends" on the local NPR stations. Dan and I miss Sueann Ramella from the Palouse's NWPR, and would still get all giddy when we saw her around Moscow neighborhoods walking her dogs.  She has an incredibly soothing voice and I miss waking up to it. 

It's taken some getting used to the APR radio hosts, when we first moved here Brandon Hollingsworth was the morning host and he was a suitable substitute for Sueann.  However, he mysteriously vanished from the air a few months ago and we never got a reason why.  They replaced him with another guy who apparently had trouble reading period - no bueno.  The current APR host is a woman whose name I cannot remember, but I like her so far...

xo

Hola!

Picture frenzy!!!  

Nice weekend!!  Today I drove up to Birmingham to volunteer with the Human Rights Campaign booth which was at the PrideFest.  All in all it was a blast!  It's good to see evidence of progressive folk all the way down here in the Deep South.  There was a pretty decent turnout when I was volunteering, and we met and surpassed our goal of getting 25 memberships!  By the time I had left at about 3pm we were at 34 already and we hoped to make another goal of 50 by the end of the night!  Looks like the memberships/funds raised from today will put an HRC office in Birmingham!!  Right now Alabama is one of 5 states without an HRC presence...so that's super exciting to have that change soon!

All in all I'm optimistic about the various signs of progressiveness floating around where we live...Legalizing Sunday alcohol sales, the various public spaces opening around the city, the fact that the Tuscaloosa Rebuild Team visited Greensburg, KS to see how they took their tornado disaster into an opportunity to rebuild smart and green, the fabulous farmer's market that pushes the eat local movement, the fact that My Morning Jacket is coming to play at the Amphitheater!!  All of these things are great little reminders that progress is possible...you just have to believe... 

The PrideFest was a culmination of a week of festivities - parades, filmfests, music shows, etc.  I always enjoyed going to the Pride parade in Seattle, which was centered near my neighborhood of Capitol Hill.  It was usually good weather with great people watching and a very fun atmosphere.  Memories of that plus the fact that there was an extensive nytimes article about eating your way through Seattle (thanks for the heads up Iowa!) made me miss the Emerald City for all that it is...But I'm lucky I was able to live there with so many fond memories AND all my great friends!! I'll be back soon enough! sigh...

I asked a fellow volunteer about some local eateries in B-ham...He was a vegetarian so he suggested veg-friendly places that I am excited to try with Dan when he returns - The Purple Onion, and the Pita Stop are supposedly tasty Mediterranean cafes!!

Another exciting thing about PrideFest other than the warm fuzzy feeling that Alabama is much more open-minded than I give it credit for:  the free swag...a handful of chapsticks, and a bunch of free dog food samples means Hannah gets a bunch of treats, which I stuffed into her squirrel-kong, only to have her slowly but surely retrieve them one by one...I could watch this forever (for the email subscribers you may have to go to the blog link directly to view the video):

  

A fellow grad student has made homemade ice cream and peach cobbler - I gotta get while the gettin's good!!!
 - bye y'all!!
xo!!

Hi!!

A few pictures!  Today was a little garden work and house rearranging...AND thesis writing...sigh...thesis writing...anyhow, I didn't take any pics of the garden work I did, but it was basically reinforcing the roma tomatoes which have outgrown their cages and now flopping over themselves being so top heavy and all...a little pruning here and there, and I set out some sunflower seeds from our plants for the birds.  The mother cardinal is back in the garden and I can hear her new little one peeping about for tasty vittles.  I wonder where her first chick wandered off to...anyhow...she hasn't seemed to find the seeds yet (or she's not interested in my attempt at growing bird food)...but let's hope it works out...

the house rearrangement pictures are mostly for Dan...so he can "yeay" or "nay" the new look...but anyone can chime in if they have an opinion...
xo!

ct

Another Post From Iceland!

Hello Everyone!

There must have been quite a storm in the mountains around Reykjavik last night, as they are covered with snow this morning. It was also very windy in town last night. The wind was howling and I could here it from inside my new apartment. Speaking of my new apartment, here are a few pictures of it. PICTURES

I'm sitting in one of my new favorite spots in town right now. It's a stylish cafe in the city hall building next to Lake Tjornin. I can sit here, drink my coffee, use the internet, and watch the plethora of birds swim and fly by. Just now, I'm looking at Mallards, Arctic Terns, Black-headed Gulls, Whooper Swans, Common Eiders, Tufted Ducks, Scaup, and Red-breasted Mergansers. There's probably more considering the number of birds on the lake, but those are what I can quickly identify.

It's a fairly nice day outside. It's about 10C and a little overcast. Springtime in Reykjavik is awesome! I'm starting to see that Icelanders are a very industrious and hard-working people. Everywhere, there are people gardening, planting things, washing windows, painting houses/fences, and power washing walkways. Nobody does much in the winter when it is dark for most of the day and the temperatures are uncomfortable. However, when the first nice day arrives, people get to work and since the days are so long, they are able to work extremely long hours.

I'm hoping to get back into the field this weekend and do a little work of my own. It's so beautiful at Hengill this time of year, I'd almost rather be there than in Reykjavik. Plus, I have to check in on the Oyster Catcher family to see if they have re-nested after the Arctic Fox incident.
I'll keep you all posted as I know all of you are on the edge of your seats awaiting that news.

Until next time.

No Joke...

MY MORNING JACKET BENEFIT SHOW WITH NEKO CASE AND PHOSPHORESCENT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR TORNADO RELIEF IN ALABAMA

This is OUR DREAM!!!

NO WAY!!!!  This is arguably Dan's favorite band (if put on the spot for the Dating Game that would be my answer, but White Stripes and Flaming Lips would also be on that list)...and they are coming to TUSCALOOOOOOOOOOSA!!!  This is INSANO!  The only bummer - they play the NIGHT Dan gets back into town from Iceland....he flies in at 851pm to Birmingham...the show starts at 7pm..so I think Dan will need to change his flight in order to actually see them...because by the time we get back into T-Town, MMJ will have finished up their set..**.DAN PLEASE DO THIS**

When the amphitheater opened up we joked "Ha! What if My Morning Jacket came and played...wouldn't THAT be something..."  and now it is happening - all it took was a tornado...Neko Case has a Tornado song that NPR featured the day after our tornado...sigh

ok..not the most thought-out post...but there is this...the Tornado did a ridiculous amount of hurt and damage to the town...the upside?  My Morning Jacket comes to play...that's bittersweet right there...

Anyhow, I'll be in line buying tickets June 17th at 10 am at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater...

Thanks to our neighbor Darick who let us know about it...WOW!

xo

Yippee!!

A post from Dan from Iceland!! :)  Nice to see his pics and nice that this blog helps us keep in touch with each other as much as with other folk scattered throughout!

A couple of links of some garden/veggie pics!  This morning I took a few pics of some tasty veggies from the garden and I made some beignets from the leftover challah dough Dan had made a few weeks earlier - frozen in small quantities this dough is PERFECT to thaw out overnight and then make these wonderful little fried gems...this was my first time making them, and I foresee Dan and I enjoying these together this coming Fall with a big cuppa joe!!

Also, a few pics I posted a day ago of the first two tomatoes I (prematurely) picked!  I just couldn't wait any longer...

xo for now!

Greetings from Iceland

Ahoy!!

As Chau mentioned in an earlier post, I made it to Iceland safely. This past week has been busy and chilly. According to our Icelandic friends, this has been one of the coldest springs in years. It snowed on us on Thursday and today was extremely windy and cold, although it was sunny and clear. I'm just glad I brought thermal underwear and my warm Mountain Hardwear Windstopper hat.

Jon and Alex leave in a few days and I'll soon be all by myself for a while here (but not really b/c I'll have the post doc Jim and our Icelandic friends to keep me company).

I'm sorry but I don't have a lot of interesting news yet, but I hope to soon. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from the past week.

PICTURES

Happy Sunday evening to you!

Hello!

I just made some homemade mayo which tastes pretty yummy, even though I accidentally put in a tsp of ground ginger instead of ground mustard (that's what I get for not labeling my bulk spices) - whoops!  

Our friend Andy makes a killer potato salad which is basically an egg salad with potatoes - hardboiled eggs seem to make a potato salad go from "good" to "OMG THIS IS SO GOOD WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THIS, CRACK?!?!"  I had a craving for this potato salad - perhaps it's the heat that comes along with summer....maybe it is because I love mayonnaise more than I like to admit and potato salad is the perfect vessel for mayo, I don't know...But anyhow, I also just vowed this weekend to see how long I can go without going to the grocery store.  I'm allowing myself to go to the weekly farmer's market because it is just so dang delicious... what with the fresh peaches, beans, peaches, onions, peaches, and peaches (peaches are my favorite).  But allowing myself to go to the market also means I get a few other things that will help me along - eggs (but you gotta get there RIGHT at 3pm when they start!), goat cheese, AND frozen beef.  I like to keep a fully stocked cupboard, and sometimes that goes a little overboard.  Now with Dan gone for the summer, I feel the need to eat what I have - it's also a fun experiment to try to be creative with the ingredients on hand - sort of like a self-imposed Iron Chef show, except it happens every night with just me and less exotic ingredients.

So how this ties into homemade mayo goes back to the tornado back in April.  Since we were without power for a couple days, Dan preserved the food we had by not opening the fridge/freezer (I was away at Coweeta for monthly sampling).  Still, a few things got thrown out - soy milk that was a little suspect, and the mayo.  Ok, so I know someone who doesn't refrigerate their mayo - never has, never does, and they have not yet died.  But then you hear about mayo-based salads going bad at summer BBQs when left out in the sun too long.  So I just don't know what the deal is with mayo.  The mayo MAY have been compromised, but really...Dan does not like mayo, and I'd like to think that he trashed it at the first chance he got.  But it's ok - I would have done the same thing with french toast.  Which is really the only thing that I totally REFUSE to eat..but that's another story for another time.

Anyhow, my potato salad craving was HINGING on the fact that we had mayo...because, even though I don't use it all the time, I like to have mayo in the house at all times, just in case a craving like the one I had today pops up.  But what to do? Can't go to the grocery store on account of my desire to abstain...but wait!! Isn't mayo super easy to make?  Why yes it is...and thank goodness I still have eggs from the farmer's market!  The only problem is one egg needs about 1 cup of oil...and that makes quite a lot of mayo for a now single-person household, which needs to be consumed in 5 days.  The smart thing would be to give up and accept that yes, most of this mayo is going to the trash...but I'll try to do something with it...look up some recipes online that are heavy on mayo.  Then I'll get sick of mayo for a few months..then the cycle will begin again...with that craving for potato salad...

Sadly, Andy has now left T-Town for the boondocks in Georgia for the rest of his Master's work.  So I shall carry on this wonderful recipe with a heavy heart.  

Anyhow...did I mention Dan made it safely to Iceland?  He did last week, all is well - cold, but well.  Light until 10pm, but snowy and chilly up at Hengill where field work is...all in all he seems quite happy, perhaps he'll chime in once he gets settled in his new digs.

Here are a few pics from the garden this weekend...My last foray at 4pm today meant I got hit by mosquitoes...7 annoying bites in 5 minutes...man they act fast...at least my tomatoes are safe for now...see the pics for the skinny..

xo

Hallooo!

Hi There!

A few updates:

It is still HOT here...as in H-O-T....I fear that the summer heat is already upon us and it is only June!  It has been in the 100 range all week - thank goodness for central A/C...despite being of Southeast Asian descent I am wilting like a daisy...though I am unsure if daisies wilt in heat...perhaps tulips is a better example?   I am not a botanist.  

The good news: our beloved big boy tomato is turning a rosy colour!!!  See pics of the "turning"...not quite like a human turning into a vampire, but a similar excitement level.  Included in the link-o-pictures are a few other choice events:  me making another spanish tortilla - which I lived off of for 2.5 days (Dan left on Monday for Iceland for 2.5 months and the desire to cook wanes..), a trip Mick and I took to Tallulah Falls which is on the way to Coweeta and our monthly sampling, a few pics of Coweeta in its "green" state, and then the garden, which I am known to photograph on occasion.

stay cool....temperature-wise...

xo