Smile Blog

Thailand is called the Land of Smiles.
Smiling is just part of the culture - isn't that nice?
We spent a lot of time smiling too: we met many lovely people, saw fabulous things, ate amazing food & got into the mellow way of life - we had a great visit!

The pics that follow are just a random collection of things that made me smile!

~ ~ ~

A calendar, with a picture of the King of course,
hanging on a tree along a busy street.

A buttered, grilled white bread treat for sale at a street market.

Isn't this a cute little car?

More street market fare, need a silly little lamp?

This mini bus took the day off to haul some straw. Reminds me of those of us in Alaska who use our cars like they were pick-up trucks!

Now that's just cute.

Signage is always interesting

Traveling down this sidewalk was fun & a little eerie.

Lots of beverages are sold like this - in a plastic bag with a straw.

Donald Duck hanging out on the grounds of a beautiful Wat.

A plate of bananas drying in the back of a pick-up truck.

Yep, I think those are gumdrop sandwiches.

This girl was adorable & I love that I caught that pigeon in flight!
She had fun with these well-fed birds.

Thai TV - fun to watch! (No we couldn't understand it.)

Another favorite sign - smiles all around!

OK - here's a truck decorated with an Arctic scene - Polar Bears included!
Maybe it helps the owner cool off on a hot day.

Yup, bunnies wearing cute little outfits. :)

A monk and an iPod!

We were eating a Thai breakfast, while these guys were eating an all American breakfast! Eggs, bacon, white toast, OJ & coffee. We had 'Siamese Rice Soup' with mushrooms & tofu.

This sign - another favorite - was at a Pizza Hut.
See that crust? It's made of noodles? :)

This store's sidewalk garden display featured onions!

Any size or style! :)

I think this was my favorite sign!

Keep on smiling, everyone!
:)

Where does the time go?

Hi! Well, I see it's 10 months since I last posted - funny how time floats away!
So what's been happening? We returned home to Fairbanks in late March, in pretty good shape after a 49 hour journey. But the jet-lag was horrendous and we were lucky to have plenty of time to pull ourselves together. We shoveled snow, warmed up the house & tried to get life as we knew it back on track. After 5 & 1/2 months away, it was hard! We stoked the wood fire, the snow slowly melted & spring eventually arrived.

Our summer was lovely with beautiful days & long sunny evenings. I took a seasonal summer job & one of the perks of my job was inviting Sada on a flying trip to Wiseman, AK.Sada worked at home doing tons of yard work - taking down an old shed & an old greenhouse, revamping the garden & building a new garden shed, and also throughout the summer worked on the wood pile - he cut & split about 10 cords of firewood!

Summer also brought us a bunch of family visitors, including LIZ, who came home for the summer to work & eventually decided to stay thru the winter to save money for Grad school. We're all having a great time together!

Randy Schwartz & grandson Sam (above) and my sister Marcie Schwartz & Sam (below) visited from Napa CA. Here they are hanging out in Denali Park.
Robby Pedersen flew up to Fairbanks in this cute 1947 Taylorcraft & spent the summer flying all over the state. His wife Clare joined us here briefly & then they flew off for more adventure.
We all had a busy summer pursuing our various jobs & interests.
This pretty flower bed is just out our front door.
Our garden provided us with a good amount of fresh veggies & raspberries, and the fall was a long one (for us), allowing us to finish up some outdoor projects before the snow arrived.

Sada & I worked together for the next few months working very hard on an energy upgrade/retrofit program, sponsored by the State of Alaska. From the basement to the attic, we repaired, replaced or enhanced the interior envelope of the house & are now enjoying the benefit of all that work as our home is a much warmer & cozier one.

So, now the holidays are over, the days are short & the weirdness of January is upon us! We're staying up verrry late & then sleeping in as late as we want. We work on inside projects as we feel like it, read, work on beading & jigsaw puzzles, clean out closets slowly & watch too much TV. But, as I said, it's January in Alaska - time to take it slow...

But, we've already gained over an hour of daylight since the dark days of the winter solstice, so things are looking up. My intention is to continue with the Thailand blog & tell more about our trip. It's not like I have a lot of things demanding my time, so keep an eye here & we'll see what happens! Take care all!