Wednesday 1st October 2014

It’s been a restful time so far with spurts of busyness here in Parhump.  As this pic shows we are still in desert country.  On many roads we might not see another vehicle at all.

We bought quite a bit of wild salmon to smoke for our family get together in a couple of weeks.

After portioning, it mellows for a bit in the brown sugar and salt brine.

A rinse, pat dry, a dusting of black pepper and it  goes out side to acquire a pellicale.  Note my high tech bug screen.

Next, into the equally high tech smoker.

A few hours later a whole lot of deliciousness is ready for crackers, or a bagel and cream cheese.

Time for some of that rest I mentioned earlier.

We drove down this dirt road in the back of beyond to the China Date Farm.

This truck has been here a few years.

The only greenery for gazillions of miles is tucked away in this tiny valley.  It is date harvesting time so all the trees have these white bags over the fruit.

They do a great job of fooling the birds.

A peek inside shows this bunch is about ready to pick.

Dean made a purchase after plenty of sampling.  He stocked up on the local desert wildflower honey too.

They even had pomegranate trees although they were not ready for picking yet.

We took a little hike down the valley.  The contrast of lush vegetation by the stream next to the arid desert was quite striking.

Carrying on with the resting and busyness.