Thursday, June 15, 2023

Hey, Hey, Hey, I'm On Vacation ...

My daughters and three of their four kids (the youngest was inside napping).
OAFS Photo
It's not often we can get multiple family members in the same place at the same time. (This is LUSH's first trip back to the old homestead since 2018!) But when we do gather, we eat well and play in the backyard. Sometimes at the same time!

Tuna Poke Salad
OAFS Photo)
That was my lunch on Tuesday: baby spinach, gochujang marinated ahi tuna, cucumber, sliced avocado, radishes, edamame, honey ginger dressing. (Source) Gochujang is Korean and delicious, The Missus Herself uses it when she cooks.

When I saw that the tuna was marinated in gochujang I just had to try it. I wasn't disappointed.

The grandkids experiencing the Pond at Chez Sarge
(Tuttle is dining on bulgogi¹ under the tree!)
OAFS Photo
The Nuke was furious that Tuttle was enjoying himself so much. He has a very good mother-in-law. So did I.

One of our three frogs.
OAFS Photo
Our pond is home to six koi and three frogs. The fish were brought in by The Missus Herself from a local pond supply place. The frogs are native to the area and moved in all on their own. My experience is that if you put in a pond, the frogs will find it and settle in. The biggest one is the size of my fist, big fella he is. I occasionally hear him singing the song of his people. (Think basso profundo!)

After the storm.
OAFS Photo
Had some minor thunder boomers pass through Wednesday  evening. Cleared the air of Canadian smoke, for the moment.

To the east.
OAFS Photo
So life is pretty good, just have to remember to stop and smell the roses.

So that's what I'll do.



¹ Juvat - That's very close to the recipe The Missus Herself uses. Though she doesn't use pear to sweeten it, she uses sugar added to the marinade, sweeten to taste. She likes to let the meat marinade in the fridge for eight hours or so. No, she doesn't have a recipe she has written down, she goes by memory. The recipe says "if you use gochugaru," how is that an option? Use it, for sure, gives it heat.

34 comments:

  1. Back in ‘77, The Hubs brought me over to Korea during his first (non command-sponsored) remote assignment. You had me at bulgogi - I love that stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Family Time! Hip Hip Hooray!! Congrats on not having trees close by the homestead Sarge, less to worry about during Mother Nature's tantrums...... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We used to have a very nice big tree outside of my computer room window. It would whisper to me, the wind blew it down. I miss that tree so very much. But yeah, when th big winds blow there's less stuff to damage the house.

      Delete
  3. Looks like a great time Sarge. Glad you are able to enjoy it. - TB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's great having the little ones around, they strive to keep this old man honest. And humble.

      Delete
  4. That frog has such an SEG I can well believe he's found a good home

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The frogs in our pond seem supremely content.

      Delete
  5. Family time can be wonderful and your photos are great to give us an idea of the memories you're making. Frogs and your pond are meant to go together; a chorus of frogs are wonderful to hear at night. Down here, the second batch of Purple Martin fledglings are learning to fly before their parents take them south to Brazil. Fun to watch close to 50 birds (2/3rds of them beginners) swarming around. You can always tell the youngsters because they are so clumsy when attempting to land. Lots of flapping, multiple missed approaches, a few crash landings. Prime examples of "Out of airspeed, out of runway, out of ideas!" :-)
    - Barry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll bet I could spend hours watching those birds.

      Delete
  6. That looks like your basic Frog, Bull, American, MK1 MOD 01. YAY!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm calling fake.
    Vacation? No, no. Vacations are filled with construction/remodeling projects gone wrong. Stripping down a car only to find that the part you spent 10 hours disassembling the beast to get to isn't the part you need to replace. Things like that.

    That looks ...
    Fun
    and
    Relaxing.

    Vacation? I'm calling fake!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remodeling? Car repairs? You have odd vacation customs, Joe. 😁

      Delete
  8. Your tribe is a good one. Those smiles are beaming!! Happy vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sarge,
    Thanks for The Missus approved Bulgogi recipe. Gonna give it a try as soon as we get back from this week of stress and hardship. Oh Wait, I'm on vacation also. Well, Peace out, Y'all! See ya on the flip flop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have fun, listen to your wife, and don't drink or eat too much ...

      Oh wait, you're on vacation, never mind. 😎

      Delete
    2. And…not to be greedy, or anything, but that Tuna Poke Salad looks fabulous (delicious is not a big enough word). Link to recipe perhaps?
      juvat

      Delete
    3. juvat - Got it at a restaurant, I searched for recipes, a cursory search yielded a number of "that sounds good" but nothing like what I had.

      Delete
  10. I tend to prefer regular cabbage over most other greens. More flavor, more crunch and just tasty. Other than that, it all looks good.

    Glad you and yours are having such a good time.

    Is the Nuke jealous that The Missus is spoiling Tuttle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love a good slaw, Koreans use cabbage for kimchi, Germans use it a lot too. I lie a good cabbage based recipe.

      Not jealous, outraged anger more like.

      Delete
  11. If you fill it, they will come! The smoke was really bad in DC last Thursday. Lots of masks which I first thought was COVID doomsayers, but then noticed the smoke. The blue sky is nice. Can't wait for June Gloom to be over out here. Enjoy the family and vacation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, the smoke has been most troublesome over the last couple of weeks.

      Really enjoying both family and vacation.

      Delete
  12. Everyone involved deserves to enjoy their respective vacations. Glad to see them all making the most of it. Memories are such wonderful treasures! Maybe LUSH would enlighten us with her perspective on returning "home" after such a long break, and now with kiddos of her own.
    JB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Getting LUSH to put virtual pen to virtual paper is just not a possibility at this time. She's far too busy riding herd on her progeny.

      And yes, I love to watch.

      Delete
  13. The pictures are so great! Enjoy your family time! And now I'm hungry for poke!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Had a very nice lobster ravioli tonight. Lots of lobster meat. Chased with a very nice Kolsch.

      Delete
  14. Your garden is beautiful Sarge. It looks so calm and peaceful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It very much is. 'Tis my haven in times of strife!

      Delete
  15. Family, good eats and with frogs in the pond, you couldn't ask for more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been a great week, sad to say, it's winding down.

      Delete
  16. Yay!! Grandkiddos!!
    Plus many hands to help Grandma weed her beautiful garden--if there are any--gotta say looks lot nicer than mine at the moment!!

    Yes, I identify with lack of trees--I had the tree guys come this past Monday and take down the 6 spruce trees that were shading my house front. The birds are learning to deal without the trees there, just hung the bird feeders on one of those shepherd's hook thingys--which has a distinct resemblance to the Leaning Tower of Pisa...oh well, I will get some help with it next time my son is over.
    I miss looking out at them, and I have to toss down some grass seed to cover where the stumps were, but I don't miss having to pick up branches every time the wind blew.
    And that is one very handsome frog ya'll have there keeping the mosquito population in control!!
    Enjoy your family!!

    Suz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That frog and his two compatriots definitely keep the mosquitoes down.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.