Flowering Trees

Sunny early Summer weather was the reason we had the most vibrant display of flowering trees this year.  I've posted a collection of trees, wild and tame, for your viewing pleasure.

The Mountain Ash

The musky smell of these little blossoms are a sign that summer is here.

And look what I saw standing under the tree.

The Crab Apple

I found this behind an old abandoned building.  A lovely Cherry Tree.

A sweet smelling Lilac Bush

 The Flowering Hawthorn Tree

The Golden Chain

Rhubarb Bars

If you love sweet, rich desserts, this is the recipe for your.  Thank you Marlene for sharing Jeanette's recipe for rhubarb bars.

Chop your rhubarb into small pieces.  This is what 5 cups looks like.

When you mix your softened butter and flour, it will look like this.

I put little mounds around the pan so it's easier to press it into all areas of the pan.  It's a pretty soft dough so it presses pretty easily.

I like to press a little dough up the sides of the pan, just because.

The white ingredients for the filling.

When they are all mixed together, fold in the rhubarb

After 10 minutes in the oven, your flakey crust will be ready to be filled.

Then back in the oven it will go for 40-45 minutes.

When it's baked it looks like this.

Let it cool completely before frosting the bars.

Mix the frosting with the electric mixer but fold in the whipped cream.

Rhubarb Bars

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups flour-divided
1 cup butter
2-1/2  cups sugar- divided
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 eggs
5 cups of rhubarb, about 12 stocks.
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350F
For the crust
Mix together until soft-
2 cups flour
1 cup softened butter
Press into a 13" X 9" pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking mix together:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 eggs
Add-
 rhubarb

Pour into warm crust in baking dish and bake until set, about 40 minutes.

Frosting:
beat together
cream cheese
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Fold in
1 c whipped cream

Frost the bars when they cool.

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Muskeg Flowers in June

A walk through the muskeg on a warm sunny day is a treat for the senses with all of the lovely colors and smells of the blooming landscape.

Shooting Star 

Bog Laurel

 

Hudson Bay Tea

 Dogwood

Star Flower

 Skunk Cabbage

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Spring Time In Alaska

This time of year I think of that Johnny Horton song, "When It's Spring Time In Alaska It's 40 Below."  Well it's not 40 below but in some places in Alaska it was 31 degrees F. on May 1st.  Where I live in Southeast Alaska, the weather is mild but our Winters are long and our Springs are welcome.  We are on the flight path for many migratory birds.  From the Sand Hill Cranes, high in the sky to the Arctic Turns on the water, there are birds everywhere this time of year.  This year on May 1st, a combination of wind and currents brought icebergs from the LeConte Glacier right to our door.  The Leconte Glacier is the southernmost tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.  This glacier is located near Peterburg, Alaska. Petersburg is located here because it was settled by Norwegian fishermen back at the turn of the 20th Century so fishermen could use ice from the Leconte Glacier to keep their fish fresh.  All of the white dots on the water are floating icebergs, coming out of Leconte Bay.

This behemoth floated directly in front of my house.  You have to remember that most of the iceberg is underwater.  What you see on the surface is just a little bit of the entire burg.  This iceberg dwarfed this fishing boat.

My parents taught me to never climb on icebergs because they are so unpredictable.  They can roll or split at anytime.  These guys didn't get that message.  This iceberg does seem safe because it is so large and flat.  

This is the same iceberg in the late evening.  It had lodged on the rocks at the bottom of Fredrick Sound.  As the tide went out, you could see just how large this thing was.  That little top piece was there, and then it was gone.  I turned my head to look at something and looked back and it had fallen into the water.  

This is the iceberg the following morning.  You can see it is very close to the shipping lane.  The water there is pretty deep so you know this iceberg had a lot below the water.

This iceberg floated up to the beach right in front of our house.  It caught on the rocks as the tide was going out and there it stood at low tide.  

The hole in the ice made a sweet little frame for Devils Thumb.  Just beyond Devils Thumb is Canada.  

The following morning, this berg was being covered by the water again.  It looked like the tail of a breaching humpback whale.  These icebergs make a nice little resting place for the seagulls.

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