Sunday, June 7, 2009

Well woke up to the phone ringing…. I usually just let the answering machine get it…. As I was laying there I hear my younger sis Ivy telling me to get up and answer the phone! I picked up and she let me know that she just witnessed my cousin give birth to my newest little cousin, Natasha Lynn. I believe she was around 7lbs, 19 inches! Yay, congrats, can’t wait to see her when she comes home!

Well another foggy and windy day here in the Aleutians… it’s been 10 days since we got our last plane…. I don’t know when this weather is going to let up. It’s not like it’s that bad out, it’s just foggy with a northerly breeze. It’s dry out today at least! We let the dogs out, and then put them away before we headed down to town so my hubby can walk Boss.

Just before noon I went down to the store to get the cash out for the day and give the keys to our weekend store clerk. I went home and my hubby baked us up some chicken nuggets for brunch. We didn’t do much today, spent a lot of time watching some TV shows I downloaded from iTunes!

Around 6 we decided to go for a ride down to the “flats”, the area behind the incinerator. I figured the “putch-keys” (wild celery) are big enough to go get a couple bites off of! So we went down on the ATV’s and went to harvest some for dinner – I love dipping it in seal oil and having it with dry fish! They are very small right now, but I was able to find a good enough amount for both my hubby and I to enjoy. We brought Tug with us, while I was on the hill going thru the ‘wild celery’; my hubby was down by the beach swimming Tug! Tug loves to be in the water! After I was happy with the amount I had ‘harvested’ from the hills, I yelled to my hubby that I was ready to drive back home and get ready to eat!

I made sure to rinse the stalks off in cold water, and then I proceeded to peeling the outer layer off. If you don’t peel that layer off you can end up with a pretty bad burn (like a rash) around your mouth and on your skin. My hands and arms don’t seem to react to the juices from picking and peeling them, that’s why I’m dealing with them. Most people get a bad rash from just handling them, unpeeled that is. Once they are peeled they have this sweet crunchy bite to them, with a slight peppery taste. Both my hubby and I love to eat them the traditional way, dipped in seal oil! We decided to break out the dry fish and brew up some tea and pull out some bread and jam! So that was what we had for dinner and it was well worth going out, searching for and harvesting the small wild celery shoots!

Well we’re going to just sit around and see what’s on TV and enjoy the rest of the weekend! Until tomorrow TTFN!! I have pix to post of me picking wild celery, what they look like and what part to harvest! But I have to find my camera cord now!! So hopefully tomorrow!

Oh and a correction…. I guess I have my dates wrong… my Grandpa Bob passed away on June 5, 2003… so it’s been longer than I remembered…. Guess he lived in my memories for 2 years and a day longer!! I hope I can be as great as my grandpa was!! Watch over me, I will always love you!!!