Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 We had a very laid back Thanksgiving out here on the island; Goldfish's brother Matt flew out from Anchorage, and our dear friend and red headed stepchild the Art Queen came over in her PJs to help us celebrate, bearing all manner of delicious food items and one spectacular bottle of vino.  (yes Elaine, I am trying out nicknames - welcome to the family).

 Matt helped a lot with the cooking, and everything turned out pretty amazing.  I didn't really take too many photos as I was busy having fun, eating some spectacular food and then playing board games until Punkin Chunkin came on the Discovery Channel.

 This was our first turkey using Goldfish's Electrolux oven, and I was pretty happy with how it came out.  Just slide the temperature probe into the meatiest part of the thigh, hit "Upper Oven", "Perfect Turkey" and "Start" and the oven took care of the rest, cooking to a 170 degree internal temperature using the convection feature.

 There are rumors that a certain handicapped fox ended up with the neck and giblets after we made gravy.  It does appear he scored a little holiday cheer somehow . . . . . .

It has been fun having Matt out here this past week.  He brought some really cool board games, his mad cooking skills, and his warped sense of humor.  Here, he is bonding with the Summers Bay horses.  This afternoon we brought him down to the gun range and fired a few different handguns.  His favorite (and mine) was the S&W Model 625 Mountain Gun in a .45 caliber - what a sweet revolver, a joy to shoot and a real nail driver in the right hands.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I have another Thanksgiving post I will put up in the next day or two, after I download photos from my phone.  Cheers everyone!

35 Minute Slice

I grabbed a camera and took a few pictures on Saturday . . these are a few of the things I saw in 35 minutes - here comes Goldfish to join me for lunch . . .

 It was Mexican day in the galley - doesn't Randy have the cutest kids??

 We walked out of the galley and waved at co-workers working on the condenser re-piping project . . . .

 Then we walked down to the dock to see how the crab off-load was going.  You can see it was a gorgeous day in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor!

 Usually whenever I go check out a crab offload I have Jason hold one up, but he was just looking too relaxed in the sun . . .

 F/V North Sea is a big gal with wide decks and lots of freeboard (the amount of space between the waterline and the main deck).

 My co-workers's Dad was operating the off-loading crane . . .

 I'm thinking the crew must have a pretty well protected deck to work on with the hull design.

 After lunch at the galley and a walk on the dock we headed home to walk Chico and relax for a bit before returning to work.  At the base of the driveway was one of "our" eagles surveying the valley (there is a mated pair that winters in the immediate vicinity, usually visible most times of day).  The mate was up on a lamp post and loudly protested my taking a picture of his sweetheart . . . .

And of course our poor starving handicapped Paw Paw, who happens to somehow have the plumpest body and most luxurious coat on the island despite having a bum leg, was hanging out in the front yard.

No deep thoughts, just a slice of my Saturday . . . cheers everyone!

Crab Season, Night at the Museum, and Halloween!

 This was a week ago on Chico's lunchtime walk - things are very different now with snow all the way down to sea level.

 The berries are easy to find and easy to pick this time of year, and still delicious!

 Well, I've been slowly breaking the news to our families - with unprecedented prices being paid at the dock for king crab out here, I'm probably not shipping home Christmas crab this year.  Our crab boats are sure happy though, and cod season has been also going very well.

 A busy dock at work.

 Last Thursday there was a Medicinal Plants of Unalaska lecture at the Museum of the Aleutians by island treasure and fellow blogger Sharon.  Goldfish and I loved it!

 I kind of had a spider themed buffet table this year, so I carved a quick and easy spider pumpkin to use for a center piece.

 The table is shaping up, the guests will be here soon!

 We added the 6 foot long black cat this year, emerging from the master bedroom.  I was worried about the noise from the blower unit but it wasn't even noticeable once the party got started.

 All right, lets get the pillaging party started!

 Captain Sandness got out of the Marines a long time ago - someone tell him he doesn't have to stand at attention in my living room . . .

 Here's a good looking couple, and they brought an amazing Halloween themed chocoflan!

 The Millipede tournament rages throughout the evening.

 The fog came and went, at some points you couldn't even see halfway across the room.

 I have no good explanation for this . . . . it was late, and the music was thumpin' and the air guitar was getting the best of all of us. . .

 I thing it was just before this that the beaver attacked . . .

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!  Thanks to all the trick or treaters and party guests that stopped by the house and helped us celebrate - see you next year!