Another cold spell has come and gone, at least for a few days. Last week we had nights of -27 degrees and on one day the high temp was just -18 degrees. It has warmed up to near freezing temps with an almost 60 degree difference. And, it is still not really warm enough to thaw any of the snow.

We drove to Homer yesterday which is about 80 miles south of here. We drove out onto the spit (a natural, narrow projection of land, in this case 5 miles into the bay), to view the eagles that fill the area every winter. What a shock it was to see a row of townhouses besides the area the eagles used to stay. It was also a pleasant and calm day, so maybe some of the eagles were hunting, but we only counted 46 eagles! That is about 20% of what we normally saw this time of year in years past.

We have gained over half an hour of daylight now over the amount we had at Christmastime. That came in handy on the way home, so I was still able to see the road adequately. With all the snow we have had, the moose seem to prefer walking in or on the roads and trails. At least with it being daylight, we could see any wandering moose.

Sunrise today was at 10:00 a.m. and sunset was at 4:27 p.m. We are now gaining over 3 ½ minutes a day of additional daylight. The state temperature extremes for Thursday were 46 degrees for the high at Akhiok and for the low, it was -38 degrees at Fort Yukon. That is an instate variation of 84 degrees! I keep telling you that Alaska is one BIG state!

My sprouts are back into the kitchen now that it has warmed up. I sure do enjoy eating them with my salad or when I do fix a sandwich. I also got the bags to use for bean and grain sprouting, but haven’t started those yet.

Tonight’s dinner was a buffalo stew with carrots, celery, and onions, with turnips and beets from the garden that I had blanched and frozen. I added some dulse flakes and kelp granules with the sea salt for seasoning. I am trying to use the seaweed family as much as possible to get a good selection of minerals added to the meals. Anyway, the stew was delicious.

I have been reading a fascinating book called “Just a Little Prick” and it is about vaccination effects with stories from people around the world. Vaccinations have concerned me for many years and this book is a gold mine of true stories told by people who have experienced some issues that the governments and pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know. The book came from New Zealand and the compilers are Hilary and Peter Butler. There are 490 pages of very interesting information.

Another book I am reading is “Power Juices, Super Drinks” by Steve Meyerowitz. I so enjoyed his book, “The Sproutman’s Kitchen Garden” that I knew this book would also be great. I am finding the recipes delightful and they spawn ideas galore! He is my new favorite food author.

Well, guess this is about all for tonight. Hope you have a lovely week. Till next time…