Tonight's dinner

Having as much Norwegian blood as The Trout has, tonight was his night for dinner. The Trout makes his own Gravlax. Raw salmon marinated in lemon juice and zest, vodka, lots of dill, sugar and Kosher salt. One of our favorite appetizers is a gravlax pizza, but tonight we made it our main meal. Crispy pizza crusts topped with cream cheese, lemon juice, red onion, capers and lots of dill and the gravlax made for a wonderful treat. Accompanied with a Cote du Rhone rose' wine, it was a delightful evening dinner treat.

The Bears

Several years ago in Montana, we fell in love with these two bears. Mama and Baby are called "flower bears". They have a hole cut between their paws to hold flowers. I change with the seasons from spring flowers to Hibiscus to fall leaves to Christmas glitter leaves. They are so at home here in our home that we don't even seen them most of the time. It is kind of strange, guests in our home don't see them either. They just blend in, standing guard. They were made by chain saw which is even more fascinating to watch.

He's back!

Our friend, "the gator" seems to be back even though he is laying low. He was in our backyard a lot last winter, sunning himself. When you get close, he slips into the water. Not too much of a nuisance, though caution is needed around him. The Trout threw some rocks at him and like a dog, he tried to catch them in his mouth. We understand that bothering an alligator in this way and lead to arrest, so no more of that!

Playing golf, The Trout once sliced a ball and hit a very large gator in the side. With a big, "oomph" she flipped around and headed for the water. We found out later that she had quite a brood (I don't know if that is the right word) of babies. You won't believe the noise they make different times of the year.

There is also one that suns himself on the 16th hole on the golf course, Unfortunately, the ladies tee is right there and you have to put your back to the gator. Someone usually is a lookout if the gator is too close. Such excitement!!