Saturday: Fun AND Productive!

What a fun day so far. I currently don't have a blog assistant. I used to have one - of the feline variety - who kept me company at my computer while I checked email, surfed to interesting links and updated the blog. In fact, that particular assistant was with me at my desk when I checked my sister's blog update this morning. He saw the photo of her blog assistant (no- wait! Look at the exposure he's getting - there are TWO photos online!!) Well, that did it. He retired to his lofty perch and has ignored me ever since. I sent the paparazzi to check on him, thinking that would help make amends but he wasn't humored. Here's the best photo we were able to get of the recluse, as he "hangs out" and feels sorry for himself at his lofty condo getaway. Curious, get over it!

On the other hand, I have an intern of the canine variety that is currently lobbying for the open assistant position. Negotiations are going well and I'm hoping, after the next bag of chicken treats is delivered to her hang out, we'll be able to close the deal and Becca will officially be part of the blogging staff. Do you see how attentive she was to every detail of our negotiations?

Becca has several ideas for the blog that I'm not sure really fit in with the overall mission statement but I'm thinking it might be better to wait to deal with those details AFTER we close the deal. For instance, she wants to add a section with photos of her dog love, Bear and her dog cousin, Laela. She wants Smoky's photo up, too, since they get to hang out a lot. Becca wants to give more publicity to the dog park and hopes to spin off a store with treats and toys that would appeal to her acquaintances.

Once the blog drama was over, I was able to get on with the laundry. I'm only posting a photo of the first load hanging outside to dry because I get such a thrill from the smell of fresh laundry! (I was careful to make sure that the side with the "unmentionables" was turned away from the camera. But that meant that it was turned towards the neighbors so I had to get the photo and then turn it back quick :-)
 
There are some cactus plants in the background that are nearly ready to bloom. I hope I don't miss it this year! They only bloom for a few days and I totally forgot to notice them last summer.

With the laundry underway, and after a 2 hour phone conversation with Joel, I really got moving. I made a trip to the library to return a book and an audio set and pick up two more audio books and then stopped at Safeway on the way home.

I hit a jackpot in the fresh fish department. The Wild Keta salmon is on sale for $4.99/lb. I bought about 4.5 lbs to put in the smoker tomorrow. Here's a pic of it marinating in the brown sugar and kosher salt bath so it's ready to smoke in the morning.
I had just finished stacking the salmon - didn't even have the lid on the container yet - and it was already starting to extract liquids from the salt in the brown sugar/honey mixture. The Keta fillets are a bit thinner than the sockeye I usually use so it will take a bit of adjusting in the smoker tomorrow to get it to turn out moist.

Here's the funnest apron I've ever worn! My girlfriend, Stephanie, made 15 aprons this summer and she brought a couple of them to the office one day for show and tell. I fell in love with this one as soon as I saw it. Steph could tell how much I liked it so she took it home and finished it and gifted it to me. I think she would be hard-pressed to find another gift she's given someone that brings as much joy as often as this one does. Notice that, since the paparazzi were on a mission to get photos of Curious, I had to take my own photo. Luckily, no finger prints on the mirror are showing up here :-)


My original motivation to stop at Safeway was to pick up some crushed pineapple and flaked coconut. Kristine found a recipe for Coconut and Pineapple cake a few weeks ago. She had made it and said they all liked it. I really enjoy cake with fruit in it so it was a "must try" for me. 

It is a total success. It was cool enough for Ken, Perla and myself to try it with our late lunch. We all gave it a thumb's up and it will be a keeper recipe for sure!

I did get a bit of sorting done today, too, going through things I'll take with me when I move and things that need to go to ECHO. I didn't accomplish as much as I thought I would today but it's time to get ready for church and that's another great thing I've been looking forward to today. Have a great Sabbath, whether yours be on Saturday or Sunday! (Or even Friday, if your schedule is like that.) Shabbat Shalom!