Sweeter than honey, tougher than nails.: September 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011

What to wear in the winter

If you are talking about the cold winters in Alaska, you really need to learn how to dress appropriately, but once you learn you will not feel cold.

Depending where you live you have to adapt your dressing habits to the new trend of clothing you need to start buying.

Lets say you live on the coast, then you will need to have something warm what I mean is a heavy down coat, at least 550 fill down power insulation, it must be waterproof and windproof also; the coat needs to be insulated even on the sleeves. Do not buy a coat that has only an outer shell, with only lining and no insulation in between.

Having a down coat doesn't mean much if you don't actually have some layers underneath the coat, layering is the name of the game.

You need to start dressing from inside out and not just the shell, so first things first, before you buy a nice down coat, you need a pair of warm undergarments, you need to choose something that will keep you warm but dry inside at all times; I personally prefer the ones that have a graph showing to what temps I will be able to put up with the cold. They are usually made of Merino wool or some kind of synthetic material, my preference is always for the synthetic ones, they really keep you warm.

Next will be socks, the ones I have seen that work the best are RedHead Extreme Cold Socks, made by Bass Pro Shop, according to my husband, who works in the Alaskan Arctic, these are the most warm and durable ones, they keep his feet warm for about a couple of hours.

Now we are getting ready to buy some shirts and sweaters, again the fleece sweaters are the best, but there is a great variety of fabric to choose from; some of the sweaters come with hoodies, some turtle necks, some are made of thick fleece or really thin ones, the important part is to wear a couple of them, it is better to be hot and take some of the clothes off, then not have enough warm clothes;

If you decide to buy a vest it is even better, keeping your chest covered is an insurance against a cold or flu, the vest can be wool, fleece, or even down, you choose depending on how cold you get.

Then, some thick mittens, NOT gloves, mittens keep all of you fingers together therefore making contact one with the other generating heat.

A warm hat that covers your ears, such as a bomber hat style with the ear flaps that hang down or some kind of thick beanie with the ears covered or even a head band that also will cover your ears. If you are afraid of "hat hair" get a coat with a hood and buy a pair of earmuffs or a nice fleece headband to protect your ears. Wear the muffs and the hood at the same time.

I hope you haven't forgot to buy some scarves or neck warmers, you can buy then in wool, fleece (some of them come with pockets so you can insert heat packs), or even fur, it is up to you, but always have one handy.

Here is a list of the minimum, for what I would call cold weather (-25) here in Anchorage, would be a pair of warm boots by Columbia, Kamik, or Sorel. Something with insulation.

Insulated snow pants if you want to go for walks outside, go snowboarding, or sledding, etc.

If you are not used to the cold, keep this in mind: If you go for fashion instead of warmth or don't wear a hat because you don't want hat hair, and you get frostbite or just get really really cold in your fingertips, nose, ears, etc. that part of your body will be cold-sensitive for the rest of your life. The circulation will never be the same. So, when you see people running into the grocery store wearing a sweatshirt and shorts, don't follow their example. If their car were to break down and they didn't have a parka and snow pants or an insulated suit with them in the car, they would be in a world of hurt from frostbite and could maybe die of hypothermia. It happens sometimes.

If you don't plan on doing winter sports and are just walking from house to car to mall/work/school, then one of the heavy down coats or parkas Columbia or Northface Jackets with the inner fleece jacket would be a good choice. You can add a sweater or hoodie underneath when it gets colder .

Take a look at what locals wear and don't be shy about asking people's opinion.

Now enjoy your winter as we do!!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Berry Picking

Crowberries, Glen Alps, Anchorage AK

It is definitely Berry Season.

My husband and I like to walk our dogs at the Glen Alps trails, where the berries are in full bloom now. From August to the end of September, the Alaskan gorges, mountains, valleys, and hay flats are full of these little colorful things called berries.

Usually during our walk there are berries everywhere we step: raspberries, blue berries, crowberries, wild strawberries, and so many other ones. I stop to sample the berries and to pick some up to cook them later.

Here in Alaska, there is a great variety of berries; it is said that nearly 50 different types can be found with an enormous percentage of them being edible. Please don't eat the white ones, they are all poisonous.

Blueberries, Crowberries, Cranberries, Wild Strawberries

Berries have been of a tremendous importance in the Alaskan's diet for centuries, not only for the Alaskan Natives but also for the Sourdough's, like us, (people who spent at least one winter here), as for the Cheechakos (a person newly arrived in Alaska).

The locals as the bears, of course in a different manner, enjoy this much awaited season.

The process of walking through the trails, finding berries, picking them up, and bringing them home to cook them into jams and jellies is a unique and fun one, this is for sure one of the perks of living around this beauty called Alaska, as we live.

Alaskan Black Bear

Bear Cubs, hiding after eating berries

One word of caution, always remember that we are not the only ones in search of these most delicious little fruits, the bears, the land owners are restlessly in the prowl for them also, making our hunt a bit more difficult; we also need to be in the lookout for them, and if you find one, do not turn your back to them and start running, lift your arms, make a lot of noise, shout, and back away as quickly as you can without frightening them. A good way to try to avoid bears is to sing, make a lot of noise, tie bells around your waist in order to let the bears know that you are around. Bears just attack if they feel threatened or scared.

One more thing, eat the berries within a couple of days of picking, or dry them and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Tell me what you think about this article

and what your experience was while picking berries.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Let's go to Rio de Janeiro

After almost 10 months, I am here to tell you about our wonderful vacation to Rio de Janeiro and Recife Brazil, has it been this long?? WOW, time flies by.

Downtown Anchorage, AK

Let me start from the beginning, my husband, Andy, works for an engineering firm as a Land Surveyor here in Anchorage AK, and because of that he is always gone working throughout the state. For over 2 years Andy has been working at a God awful place named Red Dog Mine, located in the North West Arctic Alaska. Usually he works a schedule of 3 weeks on working 12 hour a day without having a day off and 2 weeks off on R and R, which adds up to a total of 9 months out of the house and 3 months at home during a full year; as you can see it does not leave enough time for him to pamper and to spoil me; let me be brutally honest, I detest that. Last year when he came back home from one of his excursions in the Arctic to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter, Ana Carolina, and I, he told me that he was taking all of us, for a nice 40 day vacation in Brazil, my country of birth; wow, I could not believe in what I was hearing, how much better could it be? The only really bad thing was that I had to leave behind my 3 grand dogs: Pikachu a Pika Pom, Shelby a Shih Tzu, and Oscar a mixture of Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso; I was devastated and it took all the strength I had to leave the house on the day of our trip, Andy had to peel me off them and I left crying I even told the cab driver to turn around and take me back home I had decided that I was not going to travel anymore, but at the end I went.

We decided that we were going to stay for 8 days in Orlando, FL, his family lives there and 32 days in Brazil where my family lives, so we did it.

We arrived at Tom Jobim Airport in Rio de Janeiro, on the 6th of December at 11 am; what we did not know was what was awaiting us there: a sweltering heat wave right from the start.

We retrieved our luggage and walked outside to catch a cab and then right at that moment I realized that I was going to pass out from the heat. What me? The woman that was reared in front of the beach? The one that was called Beach Rat? No, that could not be happening but, then I realized that I had just left Anchorage in the whim of the winter; when we left home it was extremely cold, the temperature was -5 F and when we arrived in Rio de Janeiro it was an overcast and humid 85 F, do you get the picture? Miserable 90 F of difference, we thought we were going to die, but then we decided that we were not going to let the heat destroy our vacation.

When we arrived at the hotel in Copacabana Beach my parents were already awaiting us downstairs, what a touching encounter it was to see my parents after 3 years of long separation; between laughs and tears, kisses and hugs, we took our luggage upstairs and decided to go exploring the city.

We went to Copacabana beach and walked the Calcadao de Copacabana, beach board walk, but note that the boardwalk is made of Portuguese stones and not made out of wood like here in the States, unique is the word; beautiful is the least I can say to describe this tropical city located in the Southern Hemisphere. I thought to myself: Self, God must love you a lot to give you the opportunity to see all of this beauty, Rio de Janeiro is the most beautiful city in the world and you are here to witness that.

Overlooking Rio de Janeiro, BZ

That night we went to a nice restaurant in Ipanema Beach and ate the most delicious sea food, a combination of shrimp, fish, lobster, and mussels in a creamy coconut sauce, showered with the famous Brazilian Caipirinha.

The next morning we woke up early and started our tour through the city.

Our first stop was at the Corcovado - Cristo Redentor, Christ The Redeemer; the day was not so beautiful, it was really cloudy, but we decided to go anyway.

When we got there we bought our tickets and up we went on a tourist bus to actually be transported to the peak of the mountain so we could be up and close to the actual site,

at the Christ.

When we arrived at the summit, it was even cloudier than at the base of the mountain, but not even the clouds were capable to outshine the beauty of the place. A statue with its opened arms, the All Omnipotent one, as if it were a mama hen gathering her chicks under her feathers protecting them from any harm, blessing everyone below and overlooking the city and the warm waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, promising to love, protect and care for us, mere mortals, to the end of the days.

Ana Carolina, Andy, Andrea, and Dayse

Andy at the base of the Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, BZ

Ana Carolina, Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, BZ

My Mom and Dad, Corcovado Rio de Janeiro, BZ

Andy, Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, BZ

Next stop was at Rio de Janeiro's Botanic Garden, it

was created by Dom Joao VI, then the Regent Prince of Brazil and later on the King of Portugal. The garden officially opened in 1822, there are a few statues and fountains placed throughout the garden, including Louis Savageau's 1862 a sensual statue of the Greek sea goddess Thetis, and the wonderful "Fountain of the Muses".

The Jardim Botanico today occupies over 1/2 square mile and is enclosed by stone walls, gates, and tall iron fence. There are several fascinating and unique sections of the garden worth visiting.

No need for words anymore the pictures speak for themselves.