it's all about how we feel inside + you are lovely, really.

We are back into the land of the internet, and waiting about five hours for our flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas (which will eventually lead to us going home to a freezing cold house, but I'm trying not to think about that part too much). I'll be posting some of our trip highlights over the next few days. Now just a quick update to mention some random things I'm excited about. 

Excited to be back! I've been reading your beautiful comments and notes and emails. And need to say thank you so much! 

{thank you by dommie}

And happy to have gotten away! Our beach vacation wasn't warm, and we needed to wrap up in our puffy jackets a handful of time, but it was lovely to be away, exploring new parts, floating in a different (+ prettier) accent, perusing outstanding bookstores (hardly possible in Chile) and enjoying a little break and each other. 

{le bateau volant etoile by anna ziliz}

My next obsession: maternity clothes! We stumbled into a winter wonderland (or winter's end) sale for maternity wear. I bought the belly band a while back (essentially a band that is supposed to hide unbuttoned pants, and works OK but certainly not "seamlessly"). I didn't wear it much, because I could still button my jeans under the growing belly, but that admittedly was growing increasingly uncomfortable. And wearing my larger shirts and sweaters over kinda sloppy looking pants just wasn't very hot. While elastic jeans that rise halfway up the ole ribcage may not sound hot, oh, believe you me, it is... kinda. 

 

{photo : unkown : please let me know if it's yours}

Trying on the clothes was fun. The woman kept bringing me shirts I never would have tried by looking at them on the hanger. Then she kept making me add a fake full-term belly to each new item to see what it would look like further on down the line. Meanwhile, Serkan would say yay or nay, make sure I choose the right size (I tend to choose things that are too big for me) or tell the woman that such and such outfit wasn't my style while I was trying on something else (+ the dearheart was right every time!) My new wardrobe flatters the new belly in a way that my normal clothes couldn't. Plus did I mention the super end of winter sale (and Patagonian summers are often like other people's winters) = 2 for 1 on almost everything?  

Meanwhile, I've been trying to bring back the youth. The hunt: facial skincare. I started taking care of my skin a little too late as it is. Being in Patagonia just aggravated my poor skin matters. Inhospitable in so many ways, our non-existent ozone, extreme winds, hard water and lack of accessibility to skin care products has only added to the weathered look. Getting such things in Chile also costs a pretty peso, since it's all imported. After being horrified at how much everything cost at a Kiehl's store at Santiago's most fancy mall, I found a display of Lumene products in one of the pharmacies. I'd never heard of the brand before, but they had me at "arctic cloudberry." Plus as soon as I saw the jars, I knew the products were Finnish (I'm Finnish and Irish, so I was lured in by that too). I know these aren't good reasons to purchase day cream, night cream and eye gel... but who here doesn't (for instance) choose their wines by the pretty labels they keep?

{arctic cloudberry also prefers inhospitable climes}

Verdict? I don't know if my skin looks any younger after using Lumene Vitamin C + Arctic Cloudberry for a week, but I can say that it is the best feeling cream I've ever tried. Doesn't feel greasy at all, and my skin feels well hydrated all day after applying it. End advertisement.

So, what skin care secrets do you keep in your medicine cabinet?

happy anniversary, mi amor!

We landed in Montevideo Uruguay Monday afternoon, and rented a car, which seemed like such a grown up thing to do at the time. But I am not the best city driver, and navigating one-way streets during rush hour with the chaos of no lanes: Enter meltdown heather. Hoo boy. The car stayed in its parking garage all day yesterday, as we explored on foot. It’s chillier here than in Santiago, but I still haven’t broken down to wear my puffy jacket, preferring my long teal pea coat instead—but it leaves me pretty cold. I’ve had two whole days without the computer, which hasn’t happened in a while. It’s good for the soul, of course. But I also look forward to catching up with y’all. (Though, now it seems we are off into sans internet land for the next couple days.)

{Locks of love in Montevideo by Lorena}

The idea is that you and your amor put your initials on a lock and then add it to the field of locks, which surrounds a wishing well of sorts. We're not that keen on coming back here, so we didn't do it. Is that unromantic of us? :)

Today we’re heading to the blue-watered beach for our anniversary. (Here, the water is murky brown, the mouth of the Río de la Plata. This morning we both woke at an ungodly early hour, even after last night’s after midnight dinner. We must be ready for more relaxing and non-city scented moments.

… … …

{warning: part 2 gets kinda mushy}

because eating rainbows can be just as wonderful as seeing them

Part of me wants to marvel at how it feels like it’s been more than one year (anniversarily speaking). But instead, I’ll just say that time is such a warped invention. If we can jump into any moment, as if in a dream, we’d be in the middle of it. And in that middle, as in now, it wouldn’t matter a lick how long we’ve known the stranger-friend-lover-brother we’re standing beside. We’d just be there, right? 

{happy anniversary!}

Still, I find myself reflecting on this most eventful and happy time of my life. Thinking of some of my favorite moments of the last year, which really is a weird thing to do, but it’s a fun journey nonetheless. In no particular order (rated pg): reaching our top of Almirante Nieto, making lentil burgers, cutting your hair, donning drunken hats with new friends in Sarajevo, laughing, beachcombing on Dumestre (16 miniature glass bottles found in one day!), dreaming together in the pool at Llanuras de Diana, watching (and eating) rainbows, holding hands during our first ultrasound, our campfire at Laguna Azul, cuddling above Río Paine + working together, so many movies, crying + feeling safe, elaborate breakfasts after noon, cooking + eating together, falling asleep in your arms + waking up in them.

Seni çok seviyorum, aşkım. 

{unattributed photos : unknown : please let me know if they're yours}

friday present: settling into lullabies.

First, I want to say thank you to all of you! Your lovely comments always make my day. And since some days (if even for silly- or non-reasons) are harder than others... such sweetness boosts the ole superpower reserves. 

Without further ado, this week's gratefulness list goes like so: Thankful for...

Settling in. 

{in the woods at giverny by claude monet}

I mean this on so many levels. Settling into my skin, into pregnancy, and settling down. It's funny after all this time vagabonding, I finally just want to be settled and in one place. Long-time friends might be shocked to hear me say such a thing.

So here we are in Santiago, and for the first time this week, we have uninterrupted internet. I'm playing blog catchup, which is always fun. Because the internet situation was so shoddy here, we were going to change to a different place, but they seem to have fixed it, so we're here till Monday. No moving, just settling. This morning I refolded all my suitcase and tidied up. We're staying in a pretty posh fully-equipped two-room apartment in the center, Santa Lucia area. (It only costs us about 14USD more to stay here rather than in the cheapest Santiago hostel, the one with a tiny room and a horribly dirty shared bathroom. And other tourists. Now, lemme just say... Hostels are great when you're traveling and want to meet other travelers! But having the where are you from conversation with the wide-eyed (fellow) globetrotter 3-5 times/day in the place where you currently live started to get old somewhere along the way.)

Moving on. 

{photo : unknown : please let me know if it's yours}

I mean this on so many levels. Moving into phase 2 of the visa process, the light at the end of it all leading us into the USA together. And going on a little vacation! On Monday, we head to Uruguay, just because it was the cheapest place we could get to that wasn't Chile. We plan to see the sun rise from the Atlantic at least once. We've both seen the sun sink into the sea many times (I seem to be a permanent West coaster, from California to Chile), but neither one of us has ever seen the sun rise out of the sea! Other than that... we'll see.

Immigration visa. 

{bardot in blue}

What can I say about this? We decided to do file Serkan's visa paperwork DCF way (via Direct Consular Filing). This means we must go in person to the U.S. Embassy in the country where we live, instead of me mailing it to some PO Box in Chicago from the States. DCF method for Chile takes 2-4 months, whereas if you do this from the States it takes 6-12 months or longer. What held up our process was the crazy slow waiting for me to receive my updated Chilean ID. My last one under a job contract had expired and had my maiden name on it. (Long story.) But to sing the praises of DCF, I can't tell you how amazing it is to be able to file in person! If something is wrong, you know right away. If you have a question about part of one of the documents, you can ask, and know that you filled out said document correctly/satisfactorily, or change it if need be! You know the paperwork has been received, and you have a verbal time frame, and even card to email further questions. You get all the phase two paperwork right away too! Anyway, like I've said, this went crazy wonderfully, and I'm psyched! (If you have any questions about how to fill out forms, sample affidavits or sample cover letters, what to include, etc., send me an email! Happy to share it all with you!)

Getting lost. 

{october by fanfan}

My direction sense has always been horrid. The only place it's ever been halfway decent is in the mountains and on trails. Somehow intuitively I know that one trail will connect with where we want to go. This intuitive sense has dulled over the years (despite the fact that I spend lots more time in the mountains now). Why has it dulled? Simply because I don't trust myself... I get lost everywhere in amazing ways. Sometimes I get lost in the same way various times because I know that I've been there and seen such and such landmark before. Um. Yeah, but I saw it by getting lost. So mostly I can stay pretty relaxed and be lost. But when this lostness joins forces with my habit of being late, that's when the freak outs and real exasperation starts. Really, Heather? Again!? So I'm thankful to be with someone who always seems to know where we are. I think he's magic. He's definitely my favorite dream.

Baby Yalin. 

{by popular demand : the belly, circa 17 weeks}

And of course I'm thankful for our baby, who I now feel daily. I'm starting to sing lullabies to him in hopes that they'll help quiet him later. I've been singing You Are My Sunshine, and I used to love the Irish Lullaby (Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra) my mom and grandparents sang to me as a wee one.

Do you have a favorite lullaby or song that you sang to your little one or that you remember loving to hear as a little one?

some moments are like this.

{photo}

So, everything is wonderful. (um, what kind of beginning is that? a bit of foreshadowing, maybe?) My trip to the embassy on Monday went off without a hitch! The woman who looked over all my paperwork was super helpful and practically welcomed us (back) into the country! In saying our farewells, she said: See you in two months! All very good. It's warm here (around 20 C during the day), Serkan and I are laughing like newlyweds, eating good food, enjoying our time away from snowy Patagonia.

And yet...

There's this little ball of farawayness that's been tugging at me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I've been sleeping poorly for several days in a row. I'm not sure what it is. I have been writing back and forth with new friends and old. But I guess I long for some more intimate companionship. Sitting one-on-one chatting with a girlfriend. Or walking and talking. Or with a group of girls gigging at game night. I'm afraid after living here for so long, I've forgotten how to even talk on the phone. This is my current form of bleh... And I'm not sure where it's coming from. 

 

{photo}

Is it pregnancy hormones? Speaking of this, I had my first run-in with the question: Are you pregnant? today. I'm about 4.5 months along. While my belly is obvious to me and Serkan, I find it an incredibly risky question for the suit in the coffee shop to ask me. I said sí. But I now think I should have said no, you know, to see him squirm a little. How does one recover from that faux pas? After that he wanted to chat. And... well, this wasn't the companionship I've been longing the last couple of days. A male friend of mine suggested I get my hands on a T-shirt that says: Does the baby make me look fat?

{photo}

 So, now Serkan is coming to meet me, and we are going to go for a little couples shop therapy. Maybe a new bag and some stationery.

the next person to host the cupcake challenge is...

Drumroll please! 

The next person to show Cuppie the time of her life

as part of the One Crafty Fox Cupcake Challenge is...

Kerry from A Tranquil Townhouse

The challenge required readers to leave a comment 

regarding what they thought the dessert said 

to the girl in the photo below

resulting in that look on her face.

The challenge required readers to leave a

comment regarding what they thought

Cuppie said to the girl in the photo

resulting in that look on her face.

Thank you all for participating! I want you all to know that choosing Cuppie's next destination was far from easy I had a blast showing Cuppie our little corner of Patagonia... And even more fun reading all of your comments!


I hope you continue to follow Cuppie's crazy adventures. Even if you didn't get your hands on her this time, doesn't mean you won't get a taste of her next time around.  
(FYI: Cuppie seems to have morphed from he to she somewhere along the way. So there's no telling that she won't reconvert...) Stay tuned...

Happy hump day! 

jetted + lagging.

Preface: I actually wrote this last night, but our internet crashed... boo. 

Last few hours to enter to host Cuppie on beautiful adventures of your choosing!  

Whew. We spent most of today traveling to Santiago after a couple of days on little sleep. I've been swimming through piles of immigration papers for my husband, so we can finally get our booties to the U.S. Tomorrow, bright and early, we squeeze into the sardine-crowded metro system en route to the embassy. And hopefully hopefully hopefully! finally finally finally! file the papers that have been weighing me down for months! 

{photo}

I won't go into all of our attempts, waiting and thumb twiddling jazz. The back story is, after all, just a bunch of bureaucratic acrobatics. I will just say, with a huge sigh of relief, that my Chilean ID arrived yesterday. A key piece in our direct consular filing puzzle. Had it not come, I'd mapped out plan B (B is for begging, with affidavits of supporting evidence, of course), but thankfully I won't have to rely to plan B.

Meanwhile, it's lovely to be a little bit warmer and have fresher choices at the market. Fresh baby spinach, strawberry, cashew + blue cheese salad featured in tonight's quick fix of a dinner. And blueberry juice! Oh, yes, I am one happy camper. Also looking forward to eating Thai food, going to the movies, shopping for stationery and shoes, maternity clothes, cosmetics and all manner of pretty things, crossing doctor appointments off the to-do list. And then heading to Uruguay for a week on super cheap tickets!

{photo : unknown : please let me know if it's yours!}

P.S.: I'll be announcing the winner of The Cupcake Challenge the next chance I have this afternoon, when I have more than this handful of minutes to dedicate to it.   That means, there's still a few hours left to enter. 

P.P.S.: I didn't have to rely on Plan B. And step one and two of the process are complete! My backpack turned featherweight after the load of papers I dropped off. Or maybe it was just the spring in my step. More on this soon! 

the cupcake challenge: come and play!

The back story: Diana of One Crafty Fox, in a glittering streak of inspiration, decided to host a Cupcake Challenge. And now the cupcake, endearingly known as Cuppie, is traveling the world for one year, moving from blogger to blogger and eventually finding her way back home to Eastern Canada with loads of stories to tell. 

{cuppie in all her glory}

Inspired Design's Debbie first won the challenge, sending Cuppie to Massachusetts. Then Carrie from This Free Bird showed Cuppie a gay ol' time in SoCal. Then I won the challenge and Cuppie flew all the way to the southern tip of South America at the end of the world, where I've spent the past week warming her up to a Patagonian winter. 

I thought it might take Cuppie a while to acclimatize, but lo and behold she befriended a condor couple on the way down, and was able to hitch a ride.

 {good thing they cuppie's not made out of meat!}

{she carried her tiny condor souvenir everywhere}

Cuppie don't mess around, flying in the open air, we knew she was instantly acclimatized. So we snuck her across the border to Argentina to do a little skiing. She got a kick out of the fact that Argentina still claims the Malvinas, er, Falkland Islands. That night her spunky pinkness started researching other land disputes nearby and found that both Chile and Argentina claim the same sizable slice of Antarctica's pie.

{¡viva argentina!}

{after surfing with carrie in california, cuppie took to the slopes, pro-style}

Cuppie was quite the misfit! While she was growing her ski legs, she decided to jump the border back into Chile, just to test fate. Then she started moving the wooden post that marks the border to gain Argentina a little more ground. Guess she was still a little hung up on the Malvinas. (Jeez, Cuppie, thanks a lot.)

{can you spot the little misfit hiding in the brush?}

On the way down the slope, Cuppie got sidetracked by some bright yellow pan de indio, also known as Darwin's fungus. She started chowing down... 

{oh cuppie, what ever will we do with you?}

Cuppie, though sweet enough, sure indulges a sweet tooth. She suggested we bake a cheesecake one night. Little did she know it requires much patience. I had her chanting no lo voy a comer for hours. Yet every time I turned my back, there she was, back slobbering on the cooling cake. 

 {When it came time to dig in, she ended up eating nearly half of my slice!}

We decided Cuppie needed a little exercise, so we took her to see Torres del Paine National Park. The reason why this place is so hoppin' during the summer months of December-February. Cuppie scored in the weather department, but was a hard sell for actually hiking. She preferred to float around like a princess on a makeshift bark raft instead. 

{princess cuppie basking in laguna azul with a sweet view of the towers}

Eventually we bribed her with our camera, so she could take some touristic photos, you know, to write home with. Here are a few of her favorite shots. 

 {cuppie, the lamb whisperer: she chatted with these cuties for ages!}

 {and the guanaco whisperer: how many cupcakes can say they've ridden a "patagonian camel"?} 

 {no bark rafts to float around on here, but she still enjoyed the view of los cuernos}

On the way back into town, Cuppie really decided to pick it up a notch. Suddenly she busted out in a full-on sprint to hop the fence into live minefields! (Yes, exploding mines are still here from when Chile and Argentina nearly went to war in 1978. Luckily Papa John Paul II talked them out of it. Locals tell tales of cows blowing up every once in a while, but that's about the extent of it. Um, OK.)

{peligrosa chic}

Luckily, we stopped her in time. Whew. Apparently she just wanted her photo taken next to the Minas sign. I don't know where she learns this stuff. Here, minas, aside from meaning mines, means something akin to "bombshell" in English, as in: Check out that sexy bombshell. 

Yes, Cuppie, eres una tremenda mina. 

Now it's your turn to show Cuppie a good time!
 

Here's how the challenge works...

Leave a comment regarding the

photo below. Cuppie has proven to be quite the diva... 

What do you think she said to the girl in the photo below 
to result in that look on her face? 

The most creative comment wins! 

Cuppie will be mailed to your home 

with directions and you will be 

the next to host The Cupcake Challenge

on your blog!

Now, let the comments roll! I can't wait to hear your ideas! The Winner will be announced on Wednesday, August 18, 2010.  Be sure to leave your email address or blog URL in the comment, so I can contact you.  

Have fun!

friday present: from dreaming to loving.

Again, just a wee late as we jetted off to the Park to camp in the frozen clear night. It's been a pretty eventful week. I plan to keep my list simple and short, but we'll see what happens. This week's gratitude list unfolds a little like this...

vivid dreams of old friends.

{photo : unknown : please let me know if it's yours}

Beautiful friends from the past have been visiting my dreams. We're talking folks I haven't seen in a while, not the people I see daily here. Last time I was home for a visit was in October (not long, yet long enough), and I couldn't see everybody I wanted to hug. But I've seen everybody in the last two weeks. Wouldn't it be great to have a tea party with all the people you dream about in a week? I guess some weeks it might then be a party of one. Other weeks maybe even a nightmarish affair. But maybe tea parties are the answer for facing our lonelinesses and fears.

windless calm. 

{torres del paine, reflected}

Don't get me wrong. Icy cold still tenses our muscles considerably. Two nights ago the water in our Nalgene started to freeze while inside the tent. Every place has its characters. Were you to read or write a story about Patagonia, you'd find wind is always the main character. But, thankfully, winter gives us a wind reprieve. The lakes and lagoons, like glass, reflect the mountains, clouds and stars. Well, that is if said water isn't sheeted with ice or frozen straight through. There's a time for the exhilaration and fight contra el viento, and a time for deep breathing and peace. I'm diggin' the latter. Without the thrash of wind, birdsong and creek-trickle sing.

morning's lonesome grebe ebing for his lover.  

{swans, not grebes}

One of the pretty things you can wake up to here on calm days. Yesterday morning, one grebe V'd near the shore of a blue lagoon. I wondered where his mate was, and I'm pretty sure he was wondering the same thing. As we prepared our breakfast, a back and forth conversation quickened. Lonesome grebe found his mate, and they noisily chattered and sped the pace of their paddling. Where were you last night? I was worried sick.

warm sleeping beneath two down comforters. 

{photo}

This is especially wonderful after a cold fitful night's rest with muscles locked cold. I love backpacking, camping and being gone, disconnected. But I also love that hot shower, delicious food and warm bed waiting for me upon my return. This is turning into a calm post with a sleepy focus. So I'll leave you with this bedtime story...

guess how much I love you? 

We ordered some stuff from Amazon and sent it to my aunt, because they wouldn't ship it here directly. We have to do this fairly often, and I am so thankful that I have loving family and friends to mail us things! (THANK YOU!) 

She added this beautiful book to the package. Our first baby book. And still a bedtime favorite of her grandbabies, who are now all double-digit old now! (when did that happen!?) It's basically a conversation between Little Nutbrown Bear and Big Nutbrown Bear about how much they love one another. When LNB is so sleepy with measuring all the possibilities, he tells BNB: I love you to the moon. BNB tucks in sleeping LNB, and whispers. I love you to the moon and back. Jeez, it tears me up just to write this.

And why would she be sending us baby books? You guessed it! We're going to be first-time parents around mid-January. While I did eat a lot of cheesecake this week, it's baby Yalin who is really making his presence more and more obvious. 

Wish you all a restful weekend, full of big dreams and sweet ones!

{photos 2 +3 by serkan}

autumnal torres del paine.

We're betting on good weather for the next couple of days, while we head to Torres del Paine National Park. When I say good weather I truly am hoping for sunshine. But it's gonna be cold. We'll camp one night at Laguna Azul (a part of the Park I've never been). The next night we'll stay with a friend of mine on a ranch by the beautiful snaking Río Serrano.

 And since most of you are daydreaming of autumn, I thought I would leave you with some fall photos. Taken a few months ago by my wonderful husband during our May autumn. He guides backpacking and kayak trips in Torres del Paine, so he gets lots of rainbows and condors, rain and wind. 

Happy days to you all!

patagonian cheesecake.

Dear cheesecake, 

You will always be welcome in my home. You are the blue in my eye and the curl in my toes. My heart twinkles for you, like that lone bright Google satellite that's sat low on the clear-eveninged horizon for the past month.

This post has been a long time coming... ever since we bought blueberries and cream cheese in the big city a few weeks back. This time around I wrote down this recipe, so I can easily refer to it in the future. I usually end up going back and forth between a few recipes, tweaking them as I go. Changing ingredients to stuff we can find here, and according to the size of my pan. I even measured a bit more religiously, which I rarely do.

This recipe uses 2.5 8-ounce packages of cream cheese and makes a plain, low-dished cheesecake. 

A springform pan is great if you have it. But I've made cheesecakes in round Pyrex dishes and in bread pans. They still taste great, but your presentation score will go down, because you won't be able to remove the delicousness in one piece. This time, I used a low-rimmed pastry type pan with a removable bottom. These ingredients fit it perfectly! 

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen & Bakerella. 

 INGREDIENTS 

Crust:

• 2 cups butter cookies*, crushed into submission crumbs
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 American-sized stick), melted

*You can also use Graham crackers, yum! Another thing we can't get here. But change up the cookie crust depending on the flavoring of your cheesecake (if you decide to make it espresso/chocolate/Irish cream--for instance--you probably want to use some sort of Oreo or chocolate or biscotti cookie)

Cream cheese filling:

• 2.5 8-ounce packages of cream cheese.* I used Neufatchel (lower in fat and still delish!)
• 3/4 cup pure sugar cane type sugar (or azucar rubia--blond sugar--as it's known here)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tbsp orange zest
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla
• 2 eggs**
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt, if you cannot/do not have sour cream... as we don't)

*You can make this using only 2 packages of cream cheese, too. Just lessen the amount of yogurt you add at the end, so the mixture doesn't get too oozy. 

**I've made this with 2 or 3 eggs, but I was running out of room in our tiny cheesecake pan, so this time I just dialed it down to 2. Both ways are good! Cheesecake is so forgiving. :)

Blueberry topping:

• 10 ounces blueberries (fresh is always ideal, of course, but I used frozen, 'cuz it's a Patagonian cheesecake and we have to make do with what we can find!)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (use flour if you don't have cornstarch, I did)
• 1/2 cup water*

*Try using only half the water at first, I always find I don't need as much water as the recipe calls for... Could be because I never use cornstarch though. 

Prepare the crust:

• Preheat oven to 325 (if you have an oven with a temperature gauge... can you guess that we don't?)
• If you don't have a food processor, be creative! There are tons of ways to crumb those cookies. Wine bottles + rolling pins are always helpful. 
• Stir together the crust ingredients with a fork, until the mixture is moist. 
• Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of your pan. 
• Bake for about 10 minutes, remove and let cool. 

Prepare cream cheese heaven:

• Using an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour, zests and vanilla until smooth. 
• Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
• Mix in sour cream, adjusting the amount if necessary, to ensure the mixture doesn't get too runny. 
• Pour mixture into cooled cookie crust.
• Bake at 325 for an hour or so. Check your cake every so often, at least every 20 minutes, to make sure the top doesn't brown too quickly.
• Take the cake out before the middle is completely cooked. It will finish cooking after you remove it from the heat. The middle should wobble a little when you shake it gently.
• Let cool for at least six hours, or overnight in the fridge or at room temperature if room temp is already a bit crisp. Now you have to wait. Sigh. Slide a butter knife around the inner rim of the pan to loosen the cake from the sides. 

Prepare blueberry topping:
By now, you probably woke up kind of early as if it was Christmas or something. That is, if you're a midnight baker like me.

• Throw all the blueberry topping ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a boil for two minutes. Remember to add the water little by little so the topping doesn't get too runny. 
• Remove from heat (consistency should already be syrupy.) 
• Let cool completely. I know, more waiting!  
• Once cool, remove cheesecake from pan (if you can), and spread topping on the cheesecake. Brew some coffee, and dig in!  

springy + domestic.

Today feels like Patagonian "summer" has arrived: wild, blow-your-beanie-off gales + rain. While "summer" here can hardly be mentioned without putting air quotes around it, I must say that as the wind picks up, the temperatures do get a little warmer. 

This morning's big goal was laundry, but our washing machine is in a shed outside, and that just did not sound fun. Plus hanging socks out in the rain to dry proves counterproductive, even if the wind whips them about quite a bit. 

{photo}

No, it's not exactly springy, but this is what spring is like here. Since there's really only 1.5 seasons. Cold, freezing + calm (read: windless) winter; and cold, windy, capriciously mood swinging "summer." (So... what does that mean, really? Rain, snow, wind, sun in a single day minute. 

{photo}

But still, I want to say...

And I did say this to the piles of laundry, in my own special way. I ran other errands instead and met up with an English friend for long slow coffee and sparkling conversation. What else could I say to spring, except yes?

{unattributed photos : unknown : please let me know if they're yours.}