Tessandore Creative

Chilly New Year's Day

This is the first winter that I'm not heating the chicken coop.  It was a hard decision because I don't want the girls to be cold.  But reading the forum on www.backyardchickens.com and hearing from more experienced cold-weather chicken-keepers than I made me realize chickies are more cold-hearty than I thought.  The girls have a heated water bowl so I'm not having to break the block of ice out three times a day.  It stays about 20 degrees in the coop, but since there's no breeze they do just fine.  Every time I check on them, they're just doing their chicky thing...pecking around.  For the longest time none of the three hens have been laying - not since mid-summer really.  But Penny has started to lay again - yay!  The new problem is that I have to figure out what time of day she's laying.  If I leave the egg too long in the nest it freezes!  This one seems to be in-tact, but I've had others that expanded while they were freezing and cracked.  Oh the joys of winters in Alaska.  :)  It is very pretty though...
This photo was taken at about 3:00 or 3:30 this afternoon...just as the sun was getting low on the horizon, starting to set.  I'm glad we're past winter solstice now and starting to gain a little more light each day.  Still, it will be awhile before I'll be hanging clothes out on the line again...
One fun thing about it being -5 below zero today...I tried blowing bubbles in the back yard with this result:
They froze in the air and when they landed, they either dented in a bit or else they kept their shape and just rolled down the snow bank.  I tried to get a video to show you, but between keeping one mitten on and trying to keep my other hand dry (too cold to get bubble stuff on my fingers!) I just wasn't quick enough to work the camera too.  Fun though :)

Happy 2012!

~ k

Officially Winter

We had our first big snow of the season last night.  I think this is my puppy dog's favorite time of year!  He had been out in the backyard for quite awhile this evening so I decided to check and see what he was doing.  Turns out he was just chillin' in a snow drift.  :)  Funny pup. 

~ k

Majestic Elk

Yesterday, despite the pouring rain, I took the hour-long drive out to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  The Wood Bison are usually my favorite animals to spend time with, but on this visit the Elk had my attention.  This buck was just so beautiful.

~ k

Wood Bison

Don't you love that face?  This is a wood bison at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  We visited about a month ago and these were my favorite animals but I didn't get any good photos that day.  We decided to purchase a one year membership so we could go back and see how the animals and environment change over time.  Right now the bison are shedding their winter coats.
The other thing happening this time of year is...
Babies are starting to appear!
I think we counted six new babies, which is a good thing for the herd.  From the AWCC website:

"After more than 100 years of extinction in Alaska, wood bison have found their way back to the state of Alaska. The AWCC Wood Bison herd arrived in November 2003 from the Yukon Territory in Canada and is part of a wood bison recovery program designed to reintroduce the species to Alaska. AWCC is home to the only wood bison herd in the United States. Wood bison hold the distinction as the largest land animal in North America."
It was really amazing standing so close to them.  At times it felt like we were right in the herd.
At one point they were close enough to touch (although we didn't!) and they make a great sounds.  It's kind of a low pitched, rolling-growling sound.  Almost like a big cat purring or something.  Actually here's a sound file of a bison that does a better job than my description.  :) 
It will be interesting to see how big the babies have grown by next month.

~ k

Moose & Carrots

What do you get if you combine this (photo above) with this...
And this...
Give up?
Ta-da!  A 3 layer Carrot Cake!  Which was made possible thanks to my daughter hand-grating 4 cups of carrots.  :)

Here's the recipe:

Carrot Cake
Slightly modified from Maida Heatter's Great Book of American Desserts

1 cup raisins
1 pound carrots to make 4 cups shredded, firmly packed
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar*, firmly packed
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
5 1/2 ounces walnuts, cut into medium-small pieces
Cream Cheese Icing
1 Plastic Moose
1 Small Tree 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease & flour three 9-inch cake pans.

Place the raisins in a vegetable steamer over shallow water in a saucepan and steam for 10 minutes. Uncover and set aside.

Grate the carrots.  Measure and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the vanilla, both sugars, (*next time I make this cake I might use 2 cups of granulated sugar and no brown sugar at all – it gave the cake a slight molasses-y flavor that I didn’t love) and oil, and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed only until combined. Stir in the carrots, raisins, and nuts.

Divide the batter evenly among the three pans and use a spatula to even out the batter. Bake the pans for 35 to 40 minutes or until the tops just spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip and the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and let stand 2-3 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack. Run a small knife around the perimeter of the cake and invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. It is not necessary to remove the parchment from the bottoms of the cakes at this time.

Brush any stray crumbs from the sides of the cakes and transfer the cakes to the freezer, unwrapped, for at least an hour, or until cakes are firm enough to handle. If you wish to freeze the cakes longer, wrap the frozen layers in plastic wrap and return to the freezer until you are ready to frost the cake. Do not thaw the layers before icing.

Frost with Cream Cheese frosting.  Honestly, my favorite “recipe” for that is just to blend 8 0z of cream cheese into store-bought cream cheese frosting.  For this three layer cake, I used 16 oz of cream cheese with 2 little tubs of the frosting.  (Had a bit left over, but better than having not enough.)

Add Moose & Tree and refrigerate overnight.
Tasty!

Oh, and speaking of Moose...
This mama & baby showed up right outside my dining room window this morning.  It's very startling to look up from your coffee to see Moose nibbling on your trees!  :)

~ k

Alaska State Fair

It was pouring down rain most every day of the fair this year, but that turned out to be a lucky thing.  We didn't have to stand in any lines at all (yay!) and we ended up wandering around with our umbrellas for 5 hours.  I just love the flower exhibits...here are some of my favorites.
I like the shadows cast on the wall behind these starfish looking lovelies...

This garden club had a great presentation...
After the flowers & veggies, we were on to the animals.  I wanted to bring one of these cute little goats home!
The piggies were cute too, but I had a harder time imagining them in my backyard.  :)
This is what it looks like when Barry the Pig decides to put his nose on your camera lens...
Oh, and lastly...can't forget to show you the 1101 pound pumpkin!  A prize winner of course.
We also enjoyed some good (or bad, depending on your outlook) fair food.  It works really well to bring a crowd with you because then you can try a bit of everything, but split thing between the group so you don't get so stuffed.  My new favorite:  the Denali Cream Puff!  Oh my, can't wait for next year.  :)

♥

Friday Night at the Middle Way Cafe

Ta-Da!  My paintings are out in public!  This is the art show I mentioned...the reason I made the Hansel & Grethel and Little Miss Muffet paintings.   They're part of a group show here in Anchorage, Alaska at the Middle Way Cafe.  The whole show came together so beautifully...more than a dozen artists are included.  It will hang until Oct. 6th - 2 whole months!  I'll get to visit my girls though, since I often have lunch at this cafe.  The Middle Way has wonderful food & coffee, they're right by my favorite bookstore and close to my office.  Can't beat all that!

The opening this evening was actually quite busy.  I caught these couple photos before & after all the action.
The cool thing is, I never would have been invited to be a part of the Middle Way show if it wasn't for the Art Open House my friends had a few months ago.  That's where I met the cafe's art curator, who then commissioned a painting from me & extended the invitation to the group show.  I like these little chains of events because they remind me that you just never know where things will lead.  It's always good to take a chance and put yourself out there.  Even when, or maybe especially when, it's a little scary. 

Another bit of fun news - I have a solo show coming up in February at our local "Chocolate Lounge".  Sounds yummy, right?  It's called Modern Dwellers - they hand-make scrumptious truffles and have an espresso bar there too.  I couldn't be more thrilled to have the February slot.  Hello Valentine's theme!  As if chocolate & coffee weren't inspiring enough, throw in my favorite holiday and watch me go! 

Ok, that's about all the excitement I can take for one evening. :)  Time for pajamies & blog surfing.  Happy Friday!

♥

Kodiak & a Nifty Idea (?)

In the continuing saga of our Fairbanks trip, this is Kodiak - the horse I got to ride at Chena Hot Springs.  {Kodiak is also one of my favorite towns in Alaska!}  I just love horses, but have never (yet) had one of my own.  My daughter had never been on a horse at all....only ponies at the state fair.  Now she understands why I always want to go riding.
We went on a hour ride & unfortunately had to wear these doofy helmets!  I know, I know...better than cracking your head open if you fall.  But sheesh.  So not cool.  But the ride was wonderful.  I want a horse!  :)

The area where we were riding is about 60 miles from town.  In a particularly Alaskan twist we looked down from the saddle to see...
Luckily, we didn't actually run into the bear itself.  But these tracks were fresh, so it was close by.

In my post the other day I mentioned that I was hatching a plan.  I was thinking...wouldn't this area be a great place for an art retreat?
There are several different buildings/room styles around the hot springs, including a much more modern hotel.  But I think it would be cool for the whole group to take over this building.  It looks out over the garden where they grow food for their own restaurant.  This is the view off one of the balconies...
In the distance where you see the two fountains spouting...those are part of the outdoor natural hot springs pool.  The building just to the right is the indoor pool, although I'm not sure why you'd want to be inside.  :)  Ever since my Art Nest experience I've been wanting to host an art retreat in Alaska.  I have a short "wish list" of artists that I would love to entice here to teach.  I think it would be so fun!  3 days making art at this beautiful resort in the heart of Alaska.  What do you think...would you come?

♥

Pretty / Cool

This is a strange/funky/enormous old landmark that you'll encounter on the drive between Anchorage & Fairbanks.  There used to be a gas station & gift shop here, but it's actually all boarded up now and kind of creepy!  So why am I showing you this?  :)  It seemed like a good segue into showing you the photos we took at the Aurora Ice Museum at Chena Hot Springs.
I'm not sure what the walls are made from - they're covered with frost - but everything else you see is carved from ice!  The path down the middle is carpet laid over the ice so you don't slip.  The glass orbs on pillars surround the stage on which they perform weddings.
Giant game of chess anyone?  Or maybe you just want to have a seat at the bar...
The ice stools are covered with fur so you don't freeze your tuckus.  {Is it me, or does the top of the stool remind you of Herman Munster's forehead?}  These next guys are life size...
Everybody's gathered around the bar where they serve Appletini's in glasses made from ice.  There's also an igloo that you can duck into and play a xylophone made of....you guessed it - ice!  It was really cool (no pun intended) and a good way to get out of the hot sun for awhile.

More adventures from our solstice weekend to come.  Plus, I'm hatching a little plan on which I'd like to get your thoughts!

♥

Happy Solstice!

Summer Solstice - the longest day of the year - was technically yesterday.  But yesterday we were busy enjoying the day at Chena Hot Springs.  That's about an hour outside of Fairbanks, Alaska.  (I love the photo above because it looks like the ducks were chatting while walking to "work"!)  We came up here to for a little vacation because in Fairbanks, sunset was at 12:27 a.m. and sunrise was 2:59 a.m.   Pretty cool, right? 

♥

Silly Hens

The three hens were out enjoying time their chicken run this afternoon.  I have them in a covered run partly so they don't fly up into a tree or get back in an area of my property where they'd be hard to retrieve.  The run serves a second purpose though, in keeping a raven or an eagle from swooping down to grab one of them.  {Honestly I don't know if a raven would do that, but they look big and cranky enough to do so if they had the notion.}

Anyway, when I went out to check on the girls ~ two of them were having fun taking a dust bath.  I know it's just a practical chicken thing they do, but they look like kids playing in the dirt!

I couldn't decide which video I liked most so you get two doses of chicken antics :)

♥

Bee Art & Coffee

This is McCafferty's ~ my favorite coffee house in Fairbanks and always my first stop in the morning when I visit. 

I'm actually sitting at the airport right now {just on my way back to Anchorage} but wanted to show you a piece of art that lives in the window of McCafferty's before I forget.  I've always loved this...
It's so beautiful to me.  In the closer-up photo below you can see that it's made mostly from beehives, with a Birch bark bodice.   Lovely I think, and so creative.  I wonder how long it took to collect all those natural hives? Ok, my plane is boarding...gotta go!  :)

♥

Snapshot of My Day

For the next couple days I'm in Fairbanks (about 350 miles north of Anchorage) for work.  I lived here for about 10 years, so visiting is nice...I already know my way around & it's always interesting to see what's changed since I moved away in '92.  On my flight up we had beautiful clear skies which made for this great view of Denali (aka Mt. McKinley) - the highest peak in North America.

I'm staying at my favorite little cottage right downtown.  The owners always leave a bottle of your favorite kind of wine & a gourmet chocolate bar too.  Can't beat that, right?  After work I stopped by another favorite place - Gambardella's Pasta Bella - to grab some dinner that would go well with the Syrah.
No, I didn't eat that whole plate of spaghetti!  :)  But doesn't it look tasty? 

Since I didn't want to haul my painting supplies on the plane, I just brought my sketch books and pencils.  Here's the girl I drew while waiting at the airport this morning...
She came out a tiny bit...I don't know...not cross-eyed, but there's something funny about her eyes.  I really just wanted to experiment with drawing different hair styles.  Plus, I feel like any day where at least some time is spent on creative pursuits is a good one for me.  :)

I also got to visit my co-workers' home and see her chickens this evening. 
Since Fairbanks gets much colder than Anchorage, I was able to get some good keeping-chickens-in-winter tips from her.  I also found out that one of my hens is a different breed than I thought she was!  She's an Ameraucana, rather than an Araucana.  They both lay blue eggs, but the Araucana's are "rumpless" - no tail feathers.  My Camilla definitely has a tail.

So - learned something, made something, ate something good and saw a spectacular sight.  All in all, a pretty fine day!

♥

Aww...Baby Moose!

The window blinds were down, but partially open when I first realized I had a moose in my yard.  That in itself was not so unusual, but I couldn't figure out why there were two dogs hanging around so calmly right by the moose.  Then I pulled up the blinds and realized the "dogs" were actually tiny baby moose. 

This one decided to come right up and snack on the Bleeding Heart plant that I had just put in the ground last weekend... Then the mama decided it was time for a rest...
The babies didn't play around for too long before they zonked out for a short nap...
Inside the house there was a lot of "awwww...so cute!" going on.  My friend quipped that the scene could only have gotten cuter if the babies put on Hello Kitty outfits.  :)  They must have been only a few days old.  Such sweeties!

I really wanted to step out on the front porch to get better photos {without the window glare} but that would have been very foolish.  You definitely want to stay away from a moose even in the best circumstances - admire them from a safe distance - but especially when a mama is with her babies.  Still, the view was pretty good...
And gosh, even as I write this I was startled as the mama walked by my window less than a foot from the house!  Pretty cool.  Glad to be inside though.  :)

♥

A Daisy & a Ladybug

Playing around with an 8x8" canvas.  I like how the funny bug came out.  :)

Here's a close up of the quote in the corner...
I'm not sure if I have the wisdom to completely believe those words?  A quote on happiness seemed to fit there, but I'm still mulling over my thoughts on that one.  When I sat down the other night to work on this canvas, it was because I had a stressful day and was looking for a little happiness.  It always makes my heart lighter to make art and I do it just for myself.  Hmmm.

Since I continue to be surprised by our late spring snow storms, I had to show you one more video.  This was on my drive home this afternoon...

Crazy Alaska. That was about 4 hours ago and now it's all blue skies and sunny. Plus, it's not getting totally dark until about 10 p.m. these days.  

*It's after 10:00 p.m. now and still not dark really, so I looked up the "official" sunset time:   9:41 p.m. the sun went down, but twilight will stick around until 10:33 today and we'll keep gaining a few minutes a day now until Summer Solstice on June 21st.  Love it!

♥

A Chicken, an Egg, and a Silly Pup

When I went out to the hen house this afternoon, I accidentally interrupted Penny on the nest!  Oops.  Do you think she looks irritated?  I like how her feathers are all fluffed...kinda pretty. 

Soon she hopped down and left me a gift...
I still find that miraculous.  How cool to have fresh eggs every day!  I found a cookbook called "The Good Egg" that I'm going to have to purchase.  It's got more than 200 egg recipes, which will be great ~ I need some new ideas.  :o)

Switching subjects, we're having quite the spring snow storm today.  It's so pretty that I wanted to show you a video of the flakes drifting down.  What I ended up with is this video of my silly dog Edison dashing around.

The snow always brings out the puppy in him.  Such a cutie!

♥

First Day of Spring

Spring in Alaska...such as it is.  :)  Guess it will still be awhile before I can ride my bike!  

It was nearly 50 degrees today though, so everything was melty and drippy.  A good sign that green grass will show itself soon.
The chickens will be thrilled to get out & scratch around in the yard again.  They've been "cooped up" for almost 6 months.  Can you imagine?  They've seemed content for the most part, but I have noticed lately that they try to hop out the door every time I open it.  Can't blame them for having a little spring fever!

♥

Frosty Morning

It has been very foggy here for the last week or so and because of that - the dampness in the air in combination with the cold temperatures - the trees have been really lovely.  I found myself out at 5:00 a.m. this morning, enjoying the quiet stillness and photographing some of the winter beauty.
Happy December!
♥