2016 – The Chicken Scratches

Charlotte Foraging #1 – Part 2, still Chestnuts

by Pat WhydeNovember 13, 2016November 8, 20220

I was hoping to try another batch of candied chestnuts or even Marty’s soup recipe but I left my last batch of chestnuts still in their spiky covering on our patio. We went out of town for a few days and came back to chestnut husks scattered all over. I don’t know how the squirrels or chipmunks can handle the spiky stuff but I figured “more power to them” if they really want them that badly. I still have a bowlful that I hope to keep until Thanksgiving. But in the mean time here is the soup recipe Marty made. …

Charlotte Foraging #1: Chestnuts (Castanea dentata)

by Pat WhydeNovember 6, 2016November 8, 20220

I’ve written posts about my shell and sea glass collecting, which I dearly love to do. Before we left for Singapore I was known to gather morels, bitter oranges, smooth river rocks, acorns, etc. Now that we are back in Charlotte, NC, and with my foraging buddy, Marty, we have been busy gathering for the winter, like all the squirrels around town. I thought I’d post a few of our adventures along with some recipes. We are chestnut nuts, indeed. You have to be brave to gather chestnuts while still in their outer green spiky jackets. Nasty, nasty sharp – …

London with David, Justin and Meredeth (25 June – 4 July 2016)

by Pat & Ray WhydeJune 27, 2016October 18, 20220

25 June – Saturday Pat and I left Singapore arriving very early into Heathrow at 5:10 AM. After landing we spent nearly 45 minutes getting through Immigration and Customs because of the crowds. We topped up our Oyster Cards and took the Underground to the Canada Water station (the closest one to our AirBnB – click to see the listing). Because we weren’t scheduled to meet our AirBnB host until 11:00 AM, we stopped at the Canada Water Cafe, just outside the station, for breakfast. Then we headed for the BnB, just to see if we could find it – we …

Out and About in Kathmandu, Nepal (14-17 May 2016)

by Pat & Ray WhydeMay 26, 2016October 19, 20220

Although we were in Kathmandu, Nepal, for the opening ceremonies for the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), we had free time to look around. 14 May – Saturday Yesterday we arrived in Kathmandu and went to our hotel, Park Village Hotel and Resort. We then walked to ECDC with Tom Morgan for our first visit with Pushpa Basnet and her children. At ECDC we met a couple from Germany, Joachim and Helga Schulze and their daughter Kerstin, who lives in Singapore. They have been supporters of ECDC and were here for the opening. Helga told us about a temple a …

Early Childhood Development Center, Kathmandu, Nepal (13-17 May 2016)

by Pat & Ray WhydeMay 25, 2016October 21, 20220

We have been fortunate to know Pushpa Basnet and to support her Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) in Kathmandu. In Nepal, if a parent goes to prison, the children often accompany them. The Nepalese government provides no support for these children. Pushpa helps take children out of prison and provides housing, food, medical, education, and family support for them. Our son-in-law, Thomas Morgan, made a documentary about Pushpa, the 2012 CNN Hero of the Year, called Waiting for Mamu. ECDC recently moved into a new facility, the Butterfly Home. We were invited to the Grand Opening of this wonderful place. …

Thailand (2016)

by Pat & Ray WhydeFebruary 8, 2016October 26, 20220

Because Pat and I had a free week, we decided to go to Bangkok, Thailand. Saturday, 30 Jan 2016 Flew to Bangkok on Tiger Air and took a cab from the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Although we were offered transportation in a limo for THB$1000 (about US$28), one of our friends in Singapore told us to ignore these offers and go directly to the taxi stand. Good advice – taxi cost us THB$400 (US$11). Traffic was terrible, especially the short drive up Soi 11 to our hotel. This road, that we often had to walk to get around, took at least 1/2 …

Location: Spain. Subject: Tile Work

by Pat WhydeJanuary 22, 2016October 26, 20220

Whenever I travel, one subject seems to get stuck in my camera lens, figuratively that is. In France it was fleur de lis. In Bali it was temple offerings. In Cambodia it was stone carvings. In Melbourne it was graffiti. And in almost every place it’s food markets and food. This December in Spain I found another subject – tiles. Tiles on the ceiling, tiles along a storefront, souvenir tiles, tiles in the Alhambra. No matter where I looked a tile was looking to be photographed. Here are some of my images without captions (although Ray will fuss about this). …