Jardins de Soleil
Sequim is the largest lavender producing area in the United States. We stopped at the Jardins de Soleil to pick a few bunches of lavender and to visit their gift shop. Step out of the car and you are enveloped in the most delicious fragrance.
Everywhere you look is a photo. Here are just a few:
Hospitals Party Hearty?
I am telling you, as I tell my own family – if I am sick enough to go to a hospital, please, please, don’t come hang out with me in the hospital.
It happened to me once. I was suffering terribly, and I was very very dangerously ill. Suddenly, around my bed, were about 15 members of my family with deely-bobbers on their heads, in the emergency room, all coming to see how I was doing.
It was my Mom’s birthday then, too, and they had been celebrating, and felt sorry for me, and came so I wouldn’t feel left out.
I wasn’t feeling left out. I was in hideous pain. And the last thing on earth I wanted was to be polite to anyone, to be social. I was in PAIN.
But I also understand that other people feel differently. Some people like the support. Some hospitals – you really need to have an advocate watching out for you, so that you don’t get the wrong medications or the wrong treatment. No, I am not talking about Kuwait. It can happen anywhere, and it does!
And my dear friends in Qatar told me that if you go to visit a sick friend in a hospital ONE THOUSAND angels will pray for you, and while I don’t have that in writing, I like the idea.
So I have come to the conclusion, for myself, it is a good idea to have one very quiet trustworthy person at your bedside, someone who can read, and entertain him or herself, and will love you even at your very worst and not expect you to be polite.
How do you feel? What constitutes appropriate visiting in a hospital? How closely related do you want your visitors to be? Do you want a party atmosphere?
This is from today’s Kuwait Times.
KUWAIT: The medical care and hygiene in most of the public hospitals is dangerously below standard. Not only do nurses suffer from unfair treatment and low wages, but patients face a range of unpleasantness – none of it due to medical reasons – during their stays. Many patients and even nurses are complaining that hospitals have turned into restaurants, a party place and sometimes a garden or kids’ playground for the visiting families of patients.
Reda is a doctor in Sabah hospital who deals daily with the parties of visitors who come at all hours of the day, stay for long periods, bringing with them picnics and ice cream and toys for the kids. She says that visitors are selfish and forget the fact that they are in a hospital and that patients need quiet and time to rest. “These visitors don’t respect the visiting hours, they act as if they are in a hotel rather than a hospitals,” she noted.
An Egyptian patient in his early 50s currently hospitalized in Ibn Sina said “I can’t even sleep from the noise in the corridors. The room next to mine is always full of visitors all the time. The visitors bring their children along with them. The kids are very disturbing and they keep opening the door of my room and don’t let me rest.
You can read the rest of the article at this Kuwait Times link.
3 Crabs in Sequim
In every country I have ever lived (there have been a few!) people have some way of saying “they must not be from around here.” In my home town, one of the ways is obeying the law – there is a very high value on conformance to a widely held value that the law is THE LAW.
Another way you can tell who is from around here and who isn’t is how words are pronounced. The town above looks like it would be pronounced See-qwee- im, but it’s not. It’s one syllable – Sqwim.
We took Mom to Sequim for her birthday, and out to the old 3 Crabs restaurant. The 3 Crabs has been there as long as I can remember, out at the end of the Sequim-Dungeness Road, and right on the Dungeness Beach. When we got there, the fog was just beginning to lift.
When you go to the 3 Crabs, if you are smart, you will eat CRAB! Dungeness crab is sweet, and very very pungent. Delicious!
Seafood Chowder:
Crabcake:
Crab Louis:
Open face crab sandwich:
And save room! They are also famous for their desserts, especially their pies:
You can read more about the 3 Crabs and see their menu here.
Comment Section Closed, Wooo Hoooo
I have had some problems with one particular spammer targeting one particular entry on my blog. Really nasty stuff, it offends me. I clear it out almost as quickly as they send it, but it is ANNOYING.
WordPress is so cool. I went into edit, and turned off “allow comments.” It allowed all the original comments, but has a cheery message now:
“Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time”
*Dancing at a stinging blow against spammers*
Stealing Kuwait’s Telephone Resources?
From the August 6 Arab Times:
(Once again, the government is getting tough on crime. The 23rd richest country in the world is worried about losing the revenue from poor Indians calling home and people using the internet to call their friends and family:)
KUWAIT CITY: Four government bodies — the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Communications, Kuwait Municipality and General Customs Department — have agreed to launch a joint inspection campaign against all illegal international call operators, reports Al-Jareeda daily. Reportedly, they obtained permission from the Public Prosecution to raid all suspected houses and shops conducting such illegal operations and arrest all those involved in the trade. They will also issue citations to people who illegally obtain a landline connection. According to sources, stealing international telephone lines amounts to stealing public funds and culprits will be suitably punished. A security committee too has been formed to follow-up and investigate all such thefts.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications is planning to engage international companies to study and find ways to overcome illegal calling through internet. Kuwait considers such internet facilities an infringement of its resources and intends to safeguard its rights. In another development, sources say Kuwait will become the first country to have fully installed the optic fiber communication network. Government had earmarked a budget of KD 36 million for the first phase and another KD 80 million for the second phase of the project. Also, telephone connections will be available by next year in three new areas — Ashbiliya, Sabah Al-Naser and Abdullah Al-Mubarak areas.
Meanwhile, Director General of General Customs Department Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Ghanim says his department has been foiling all attempts to smuggle equipments used for stealing telephone lines.
Reportedly, the Ministry of Communications earlier showed department officials the kind of equipment needed to steal telephone lines and “the department has been working hard to foil all smuggling attempts,” he added.
Washington State Ferries
The Washington State Ferries are part of the highway system – you drive your car on and off, and relax with a great cup of coffee as you cross the waters.
On the weekends, lines can back up and you might have to wait a couple hours for a ferry. There are coffee stands along the way to help pass the time.
And nice clean bathrooms, after you drink all that coffee!
There are ferries of all different sizes – this one has six rows of traffic on each of two levels going across to the Olympic Peninsula.
Those who watch Grey’s Anatomy will recall that Meredith almost died in a ferry boat accident. The reality is, thankfully, that the system is well maintained, and incidents are rare. Counter-terrorist teams patrol the ferry lines and suspicious cars are checked.
French Chocolate Ice Cream
Perfect for beating the summer heat! This ice cream is so rich, so creamy, and so chocolat-ey that it makes you forget your worries.
French Chocolate Ice Cream
This takes a little time – and an ice cream churn – but oh, is it so worth it.
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 cups heavy cream
Heat milk in small saucepan just until bubbles begin to appear around edge of pan.
Beat egg yolks in large bowl with sugar, cornstarch and salt.
Slowly add hot milk into egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
Return all to saucepan and heat slowly , stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture thickens and just comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and add two teaspoons vanilla and chocolate squares, and continue stirring until the chocolate is melted.
Stir in cream.
Cool completely.
Strain into a four quart freezer can of ice cream maker.
Freeze according to manufacturers directions. Serve immediately, or spoon into freezer container and place in freezer. This won’t last long – it is SO good!
Note:
One time I was making this ice cream for guests. My small son, who loved this ice cream, kept asking if it was cool enough to churn yet. I told him one thing: Don’t touch the ice cream container.
He couldn’t help it. He had to see if it was cool enough to churn. Unfortunately, the refrigerator-slick canister slid through his hands, and as he struggled to catch it, he somehow hit it up, and put some spin on it. As I prepared to welcome guests, the gooey, thick, chocolate mixture twirled up, up and out of the canister, spinning ALL OVER THE KITCHEN and all over my small son.
He looked so horrified as he stood there, rooted to the floor, covered by his chocolaty guilt. He looked at me with terror in his eyes. He had disobeyed, and he feared the consequences.
I struggled really really hard not to laugh, and I looked at him very crossly and told him he had to stand there, covered with chocolate, until I had cleaned up the rest of the mess. Then I cleaned him up, and started another batch of the mixture. Just in time, I popped him into the bathtub as the guests arrived. The mixture was cool enough by the time I served dinner, and churned as we ate. It was ready just in time for dessert.
To this day, I think of my son with a big grin every time I see this recipe.
Draft Law: No Car Talk
From August 4th Kuwait Times (yep, they are back online)
Note: Before arriving in Seattle, my oldest friend warned me that in Seattle you now get TWO tickets if you are seen talking on a mobile phone while driving, one for talking on a phone, and one for reckless endangerment. Each ticket is $101. Ouch! I don’t see anyone here talking while they are driving anymore.
Drive, don’t talk…Big Brother is ‘watching’
Published Date: August 04, 2007
By Nancy Oteifa, Staff writer
KUWAIT: A draft law criminalizing motorists for using mobile phones while driving that was announced recently, has suddenly become a cause for concern among several residents in Kuwait. Officials at the Traffic General Department are said to be taking the issue into serious consideration and seem adamant in penalizing all those who use their mobile phones while driving, claiming that it’s one of the major causes of accidents in Kuwait. The draft law of course has not been finalized yet, and officials claim that it has also not been ascertained whether there would be traffic fines to be paid or jail sentences or even both.
Although it is also not confirmed if this law would be enforced or not many people seem to be against its enforcement, while some others were in agreement – with the hope that this might reduce the increasing number of accidents occurring in the country every day. This Kuwait Times reporter spoke to people on the issue where they expressed different opinions and comments.
You can read the rest of the article HERE.
Seattle Overcast
August in Seattle – while a day may dawn bright and sunny, the majority of days dawn with an overcast, even some rain, and slowly during the morning the clouds thin and dissipate. I found a wonderful photo on a forum like skyscraper city:
Isn’t that gorgeous? It’s from a website called City-Data.com. The photo above is by Pwright, and there are several more equally gorgeous photos you can look at by clicking the City Data site.
Cost Cutter
The store I was going to wasn’t open, and I knew we needed a couple groceries, so I headed across the parking lot to the Cost Cutter (yep, it’s raining):
As soon as I got inside, I knew this was not just any old grocery store. The cashiers, the manager and the butchers all looked Mexican! And when I got to the deli section, the specialities were things like Dulce de Leche, all packaged up for people who eat a LOT of dulce de leche:
To my delight, there was an aisle labled Middle East foods, with tabbouleh, canned hummus and muttabel, foul, and Lebanese olive oil:
And a huge aisle with East European foods (I am not sure what East European foods are!)
And, while most stores hide their beer selection in some dark corner of the store, Cost Cutter has a huge aisle down the center of the store, with all kinds of neon signage – it looks very festive:
Stores like Cost Cutter, that serve the large and varied population of immigrants are one of the reasons I love Seattle.
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