COLD

 

Earlier this morning it was -.5 degrees Fahrenheit outside and right now it is 1 degree.  For Kodiak that is pretty darn cold.  Some winters we do not even get low single digit temperatures and it rarely drops below zero Fahrenheit.

These pictures are all from Sunday when it was not as cold as it is now. Yesterday when Stuey and I went skiing it was in the single digits and the snow was super slow at the golf course.  It was too cold for photos!  We'd grind slowly up the hill listening to our skis squeak on the snow.  This is what it is like to cross country ski in Fairbanks not usually what it is like to ski on Kodiak.

On Sunday we all went to Buskin Beach with the dogs and then later to Buskin Lake to ski without the dogs. Bodie will not go out on the ice (smart dog) so we had to take them for a walk first.  At the beach the ocean was partially frozen near shore and it looked like molten lava.  At the lake it was super windy and very cold.  We did not last all that long.  We saw Uncle Dicky out there with his Kitewing.  Stuey and I did a couple laps of the lake on skate skis while Nora went to the end of the lake and back on classic gear.

Patrick

The Burger Grind

 

Wrapping burger - this is far less than half the total grind

Last weekend the 2023 hunting season officially ended with the burger and sausage grind.  Every year we save up all the burger scrap meat until the end of the season and then grind it all at once.  I usually wait until a couple of months after hunting season to actually do the grind.  By waiting a couple of months I have an idea of how much meat I am going to need to get through the year. Then I can grind the extra meat.  Burger and sausage is the most popular option for game meat amongst everyone I know.  And the burger we make is way better than anything you can buy.

Anyway this year we made 176 pounds of burger and sausage.  That is a LOT of meat.  141 pounds of it is straight elk and deer burger mixed with beef fat.  The other 35 pounds is deer meat mixed with pig fat and spices to make Italian sausage.

Since we got back from Japan I have also been lightly pickling vegetables to eat with breakfast.  So I've been having sauerkraut and 'Shiozuke' with my freshly ground burger and sausage for breakfast (photos at bottom).  Shiozuke is super easy.  Basically you add vegetables - I used green beans and baby boy choi - to a big mason jar, add a tablespoon of salt and fill to the top with water.  Then the vegetables are lightly pickled and ready to eat the next day.

I looked into Japanese pickling techniques and there are all sorts of them to try.  I have also been pickling kale. I think the next technique I want to try is called Shoyazuke and is based on adding soy sauce and rice vinegar.

Sorting and weighing all the meat before the grind - need to know how much fat to add

Cutting up the frozen meat prior to grinding - an old package of meat from last year is added to the burger pile

Freshly ground burger for breakfast

My homegrown version of a Japanese breakfast - bacon and shiozuke

My Arizona olives and lightly pickled beans and box choi (Shiozuke)

I grew this pepper from a seed out of a store bought pepper and now it has a pepper on it - we had it for dinner last night

Fermented foods and eggs for breakfast

Dawn, Dusk and the Full Moon

 

The last few days have been clear and cold with a full or near full moon.  When the moon is near full it rises at sunset and sets at dawn. This has made for some good photographic opportunities.  At dawn on the way to work I stopped at the Near Island Bridge and took pictures of Kodiak with the moon setting behind Pillar Mountain.  The first day it had already mostly set - so I went back yesterday and got it further above the mountain.  If I went today the moon would be setting even later - I could maybe get a little sunshine and the moon!  But I've taken enough moon pictures.

I also walked around the harbor at both dawn and dusk.  I don't usually take many pictures of the harbor.  My goal was to show Kodiak as a vibrant fishing port.  I wanted to catch the color of the sunset and sunrise light on the boats.  It's a pretty good time of the day for photography.

Patrick

Sunshine

 

Stuey and I have gone skate skiing at the golf course every day this week with the dogs.  And we will go again today.  We have basically beaten in a groomed track.  On Tuesday there was 2 or 3 inches of new snow, and it was pretty slow going breaking in the trail.  But it has gotten faster and faster the more times we go around our figure eight loop around the golf course.

Our loop is about 2K long and has one long up hill on it.  The dogs chase us round and round and sometimes stop to investigate something. Everyday when we show up at the golf course the whole area is lit up in sunshine.  And then as we ski the shadows get longer and the sun sets behind Erskine Mountain.  First the west end of the golf course goes into shadow and then only the top of the hill on the east end near town is still in the sunshine. By the time we finish all is in shadow, but the mountains above are all still in the sunshine.

Patrick

This one is from before the new snow.  There is no brown showing anywhere now

Weekend Snow

 

These pictures are all from last weekend when we finally got some new snow.  It's been cold and sunny ever since too.  So it is a good thing we got snow when we did or it would still all be icy or brown.  

Last weekend we went downhill skiing on both days.  Ever since we have been skate skiing at the golf course (post to follow).  On Saturday it had just started to snow and we basically had a 1/4 inch of dust on a crust.  But it was beautiful on all the bushes.  

Then on Sunday there was a lot more snow and we went up Pyramid.  What was weird is that it was below freezing and while we were going up the mountain the snow turned to mist.  We all got coated in ice.  Serious ice storm!  But after the ice storm it snowed some more on Monday night.  So all is good.

Patrick