Happy Birthday to Odie!

(Almost) two years ago, my little guy looked like this:

Now he's all grown up...mostly. He still loves to do silly puppy things, and he'll always be my "little baby puppy."

Odie is two today. We'll be celebrating with lots of playtime and puppy treats. Happy birthday, buddy!

Escape from Smog Lake Valley

Forecast: Widespread Haze. Widespread Haze. Widespread Haze. Day, after day, after day, after day. It's not a pretty sight. Or smell, for that matter.

Whether you call it haze, inversion, or smog, Salt Lake City has had an awful year for pollution. Of greatest concern are PM 2.5 particles, which "pose a health concern because they can be inhaled into and accumulate in the respiratory system." (Source)  With 42 "Orange" air quality days and 14 "Red" air quality days for particle pollution (source), Salt Lake City lands itself a spot at #5 in the American Lung Association's most polluted cities by short-term particle pollution.  Most of the "solution" relies on voluntary action and unenforced mandatory action. People are advised to drive less, use public transportation, and stay indoors on these days. Wood fires are prohibited, and industry is asked to "optimize operating conditions to minimize air pollution." 

Air pollution can cause eye and throat irritation; chromosomal damage to fetuses; exacerbate asthma, heart, and lung disease; and causes similar lung damage as smoking. Children and the elderly are at the highest risk, but we all wonder what the air is doing to us. 

Numerous state-sponsored studies put most of the blame on vehicles. And the air is noticeably clearer on holidays - when people don't have to drive to work. But there's more to it than that.It turns out that most PM 2.5 is created by a chemical reaction between sunlight and precursor gases in the air, and it's difficult to identify the sources of those gases, though wood burning is thought to contribute more than other sources. (Source) Nevertheless, Utah policymakers seem happy to blame the drivers - who need to be able to move quickly about a spread-out suburban community - and award permits for increased emissions to industrial polluters. 

Added to the physical health threats of the air quality is the psychological threat. How depressing is it to look out at this landscape every day? To worry about your health every second that you're outside? To dart from the car to the (hopefully) cleaner indoor air?

Not surprisingly, many people hop in their cars to get away from the smog. With its short days and cold temperatures, winter is depressing enough without being told that it's unhealthy to go outside. And during these inversions, all we crave is some fresh air.

Last weekend, as our Christmas/New Year's trip, we did just that. We packed a picnic cooler with enough food to last us two days, and headed down to Palisades, Colorado. Odie came too, and was thrilled to find a doggy park/trail right by the river. If he'd had his way, we would have stayed there the whole time!

But the real destination was the wine - Palisades has quite a few vineyards and fruit orchards, so we decided to tour wine country in the off-season. We saw this great license plate on the back of a pickup truck at one winery...

And saw some grapes left on the vine...

And a pretty sunset over a vineyard...

On Sunday, we had another nature walk with Odie...

But he was more interested in the frisbee!

On our way out, we saw this cute sculpture, titled "Rusty's Dream."

Palisades and its neighbor, Grand Junction, also suffer from inversions in the wintertime, but are less densely populated and don't have nearly the same levels of pollution as Utah's mountain communities. When we drove back to Salt Lake City, we were saddened to see that the smog hadn't dissipated - it had gotten worse.  I haven't lived here long, but I've gathered that the smog is usually at its worst in January. As we look forward to the New Year and the rest of the winter, I hope to see the state take a hard look at the real sources of pollution, stop finger-pointing, and take some real action to clean up the air.

No-Stir Mushroom Risotto with Seared Shrimp

Guess what, y'all. Food photography is hard. Even Martha Stewart has trouble taking a good food photo on her own. You know what's even harder? When it's December already, and there's only light from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., and you want to take a picture of your 7 p.m. dinner before it gets cold. Whoever heard of such a thing? Sheesh. Anyways, that's really just a long-winded explanation for why there's no photo with this recipe. (Even though it still looks better than Martha's. Sorry, Martha.) 

Instead, here's a picture of Odie, looking cute. Which is what he does best, daylight or no daylight.

No-Stir Mushroom Risotto with Seared Shrimp

Serves 2 with a little left over, but you could easily double or triple the recipe

Until I tried this technique, risotto had eluded me. The idea here is that you get most of the effect of a creamy risotto quicker, and with less work. Sign me up!

For the Risotto:

• 1 small onion
• 4 ounces mushrooms
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 cup short-grain rice, such as Arborio 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Shrimp:

• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons oil or lard, for frying

Lay the shrimp evenly on a couple of paper towels. Put several paper towels on top of them, then weight with a heavy pan, like a cast iron skillet.

Meanwhile, chop the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper finely. Combine in a small saucepan with the olive oil, and saute until they have released all their liquid and are beginning to dry out. Add the cream, water and a pinch of salt, then bring to a boil. Once the liquid comes to a boil, add the rice, give it a quick stir, then cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 14-15 minutes, or until al dente.

When there are five minutes left for the rice to cook, combine the cornstarch and sea salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the shrimp in the cornstarch so it is lightly coated. Heat the frying oil in a large skillet until it is almost smoking. Sear the shrimp, about a minute on each side, until they are golden brown, then remove from the pan and drain on fresh paper towels.

When the rice has finished cooking, add the butter and cheese, stirring vigorously so the melt evenly into the rice. 

Serve the rice in a shallow bowl topped with the shrimp. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve while it's still piping hot. 

If you have any leftover rice, you can make fried rice balls the next day. The possibilities are endless, but the basic idea is to heat up some oil, 

Season some breadcrumbs...

Form the rice into balls (some recipes even have you stuff them with cheese...yum!)

Roll those balls in the breadcrumbs...

Then fry.

Any way you slice it, it's good! Enjoy!

Hi, Mom!

My craft room is just below ground level, with the window right at ground level. It's amazing to me that Odie doesn't notice me in the room more often, but when he does, it goes something like this. He peeks in, sees me in there, then races to the back door hoping to be let in. Such a cutie!

Fall Chill

Oh boy. I am superwaybehind on blogging this fall. You know that feeling? Like an awkward pause in a conversation, where so much time has gone by, and you finally think of something to say, but don't say it because all of a sudden it doesn't seem like the right moment anymore. Maybe that's just me.

Anyways, blogging has been a struggle this fall. There are so many things to do that blogging just hasn't happened. It's not that I'm not writing. I am. On paper. And it's not that I'm not thinking about what ought to go up on the blog. I am. It's just that by the time I get home, all I want is a glass of wine, dinner, a book to curl up with, and a cuddle with Mike or Odie or both.

Plus, there's this weird pressure for blogging to be in real time. Maybe you know it. Things ought to feel relevant when they're published. But it's hard to devote so much time to blogging itself - the pictures, the writing, the scheduling of posts, and then find out that the government has shut down and the world gone to pot and your post suddenly seems out of place. You could let it publish anyways, or you could go back and re-write it. Usually I opt for the first option, if only because I don't remember whether I've scheduled a post or not. So it goes.

More than a month ago, Mike and I took Odie on a hike. I have no idea where we were, except that it was pretty far away from where we usually hike. And it was a National Forest...something that was wide open to the public a month ago, but not at all the last couple of days.

We stopped at a grocery store and picked up supplies for a picnic lunch - chips, cheese, salami, chocolate covered bananas, gluten-free cookies, ginger ale - the works. We were high in the mountains, so where it was still ninety degrees where we live, it was crisp and cool like fall. Like it feels now.

I had injured my foot earlier in the summer, which really put a stop to most of our hiking this summer. But Mike had identified several easy hikes that we could try. Best of all, there were lakes. We wanted to see how Odie would do around water.

Frisbee Fun

This guy loves his frisbee. He could chase it all day long, if only someone would throw it all day long. He's chewed a hole in it, which is getting progressively bigger. Sometimes he even puts his head all the way through the hole and prances around with it around his neck like a necklace. No kidding.

Nothing beats a frisbee for some good summer fun!

Dog Days

I don't know why, but these last two weeks hit me like a ton of bricks.

There's been work. And play. And for a whole week, fireworks until well past my bedtime.

It's been hot. There's been rain, which makes me do a happy dance every time I see it. (Yes, really.)

Sometimes this sort of thing makes me feel overwhelmed, but right now I'm just tired.

I guess they call this the dog days of summer for a reason. The dog is totally relaxed, just rolling around on his back and acting like I'm crazy for trying to do so much.

Last week, I wrote a series of posts about adventures in National Parks and Monuments. There's more to come, but I lost steam halfway through the week, and they're just going to have to wait until later. 

Maybe I'll see you here next week. I'm going to go have ice cream for dinner.

Bubbly Cowl the Second

I enjoyed making my first Bubbly Cowl so much that I had to make a second one...

Really, I had some yarn that needed using, and I thought it would look good in this stitch pattern. I also made some mittens to go along with the cowl - since I'm always bundling up in handknits in the wintertime, it's nice to have a few matching pieces.

Of course, now that it's nearly summer, these will go in the handknit box for next winter, but I thought I'd document them before it slips my mind.

Odie wanted to join in the photoshoot, but then he got distracted by a bird...

I did have to modify the stitch pattern for the mittens, which were worked in the round.

The cuff is a simple k1p1, and the thumb is worked by placing stitches on a holder, casting on new stitches, finishing the hand, then picking up stitches for the thumb. I know there must be a shorter name for that, but it slips my mind right now.

The yarn is British Sheep Breeds DK Undyed.

Sunny spot

Sometimes I wonder about the stereotypes we pin on animals. Like cats sleeping in a sunny spot, dogs lying by the fire, and so on. Odie loves to sleep in a sunny window or all over our clean laundry just as much as any cat.  Don't get me wrong - he's definitely a dog - as this shot was taken after he wore himself out running all over the backyard chasing his frisbee.

True Spring Hike - Neff's Canyon

Recently, Mike and I took a day off from moving to take Odie on a true spring hike. The last time we went, snow still covered most of the trails. But now the mountains have erupted into a tangle of new growth.

It was a short hike, since our backpacks are still in boxes somewhere, but that didn't stop it from being wonderful.

All sorts of flowers are in bloom in the mountains, although it would be easy to miss them if you're looking at the sky (or watching for the dog).

Odie had a great time too, although he did give me a little scare when he ran off to play with some other dogs and we couldn't find him for five minutes.

We found some nice side trails with great spots for picnics. Next time we'll bring lunch.

Ducks in a Row

I saw these three fellows while walking Odie the other day and just had to snap a picture. The first baby ducks are starting to hatch, but there are still many more drakes roaming the grounds than hens. The mama ducks are tucked away sitting on their nests, and heaven help anyone who gets near them.  I think of these guys as expectant dads in the waiting room of a hospital. They're really not sure what to do, but they sure are tired of waiting around.

Spring Hike - Neff's Canyon

It's solidly spring in the valley, and we've got a crazy little puppy with a bad case of spring fever. We've got it too - we're ready to get hiking again.  So recently we decided it was time to take a hike. We went up Neff's Canyon, and brought Odie along.

His new backpack is way too big for him, but he seemed to like it well enough. Some folks say it's a great thing for border collies - makes them feel like they have a job to do and  the added weight gives them extra exercise. As soon as we get one the right size, it'll be a win-win.

The canyon was lovely, and not a bad hike at all. Odie had a blast, running around us in circles, and we worked on some new tricks with him.

There's still plenty of snow up in the mountains. It looks like the ski resorts might be open all the way through July this year. As the trail got steeper, there was also more shade - meaning more snow. Odie didn't mind at all, but since we hadn't brought poles with us, we decided it was better to sit down and eat our lunch before turning back.

 We had a nice little lunch beside a lovely pool of water. Odie, of course, was very interested in both lunch and the water.  A nice hike to kick off the season.

The Upside

The upside of never-ending snow is that the dog loves it. I had the opportunity to house-sit for someone with a yard a while back, and Odie came along to make sure the yard was in proper working order.

Frisbee is really the only game that's appropriate for more than an inch or two of snow. We've already lost one tennis ball and one mitten to the deep snow, but frisbees happen to be a lot easier to find.

Hi guys! It's me, Odie! Watch me get this frisbee Mom's about to throw!

I got it! Yeah! Now I'm gonna run around!

Whee! This is so fun you should try it!

I love my frisbee!