Krista Settles in to Alaska

Krista came in this morning and asked if I'd like to go for a walk after devotions. What a great way to begin a day! It was fun to steal a few alone moments with her to catch up.

 The Fireweed are up. The legend is the first snow will fall 6 weeks after the Fireweed blooms reach the way the top of the plant. I love the Fireweed. I am not ready to begin thinking about winter again.  It is reassuring our Fireweed is not yet at the top.

"I" was watching Benny today. Usually, I play with him downstairs in "his place." TODAY, there were so many around to help watch - and so much to do -  we joined the others. We helped unload Krista's car.

We helped set up the mobile Guest cabin for the girls. They will "live" here until CoRielle are able to move into their new house. Then Krista will rent CoRielle's room and the living area of their apartment will become an exercise/game/craft room. G Dog is currently in Stacia's room and she's been sleeping in the very crowded library.

Benny LOVES honking the horn

Look! Bre and the kids came by to welcome Krista home. 

They were the first to enjoy the picnic tables. 

Jamin dropped by to welcome Krista home. 

Uncle Jamin and Gideon match!

I AM working on child-friendly toys for our yard. I've missed several swing sets on the sales lists... 

Sweet Annie

Jamin saw a rock, a piece of lumber....and the memories of teeter-totters were shared. Back in the day - they did not have springs under the seats. ::snort:: He suggested a balance beam.  Alex found it funny to balance with Jamin.

This actually is a common gesture of humor from Alex

Balancing with Krista didn't go so well. 

They did finally work it out - and then began launching balls and such. 

Cousins

Gideon (about 26 months) and Benny (about 19 months)

I gave Michael a greenhouse tour - it's amazing how things grew in the two weeks he was gone.

I picked a lunch salad and here is the dinner salad I picked. I'm still thinning things out so picked roots and all.

When I thinned radishes last week most were the size of the one on the left...look at them this week. They are quite a bit more peppery too. 

Stacia made a patriotic cake for tomorrow - it's red and blue inside. 

She thought it was a disaster - we liked it. 

Arielle came home. She, G Dog, and Benny helped Krista wash her car. 

It didn't take Benny long to figure out how to turn the hose.  GG (dad) and Krista got wet. 

Sprinkles too

It's like a year round Easter Egg hunt around here. 

I think we are ready for the 4th of July tomorrow. 

A Tale of 3 Picnic Tables

Michael and Krista were due to arrive in 1 1/2 hours - I had one last thing to do before they arrived. This is me, driving Michael's truck for the first time. ::snort:: 

I have wanted some sort of outside sitting area since we moved in. Designing and creating the area hasn't moved to the top of the list....being able to relax, gather, and enjoy meals outside has moved up my list. I began pricing patio furniture and it was simply more than I was willing to pay...unless we  paid a HUGE amount for several amounts, we would not have enough seating for the whole family to enjoy a meal outside.

I began to talk about getting an old fashioned picnic table or two or three.  There were none around town. Lowes in Anchorage had some - but I didn't want to drive to Anchorage. As the 4th approaches, seating for the family for an outside meal moved to the top of the list. LOL

I called our local Lowes today to be sure they didn't have any. They had 17 - five assembled. By the time I arrived, I had a few questions.

"How long does it take to assemble these?"

Ten minutes. (Hmmm.....)

"Can we fit 3 into the truck?"

Sounded sketchy to me.

"If I assemble them will you give me a discount?"  And by "I" I mean "Alex."

Yes.

I got three tables for 1/2 the price of a patio set that would seat 4 people. Michael had told me at full price he thought it would cost the same to make himself as to buy....I felt good about the price. 

Thanks to road construction, we made it home about 10 minutes before Michael and Krista arrived. Today, Alex set about assembling tables. It takes longer than 10 minutes. He did have a lot of help and a big cheering section as he worked. 

People began to arrive - and look - a natural place to gather - outside.....we've also set up a mosquito magnet - and the mosquitoes are much more manageable this year. One had to be willing to give a pint of blood to sit outside in previous years. I'm working to make our place more inviting - small steps.

I had a gracious offer from a friend to build a table for us, you know who you are.  I knew Michael would build the other two if I nagged. I was happy to get them for a good price and save both men the extra work.  I debated right up until I got in the truck and started for Lowes. LOL I purchased top of the line exterior paint and will paint these shortly. The wood needs to dry a bit.

Colors - will turquoise is my favorite color. Stacia and I have discussed painting one as a flag - stripes with one corner being blue/stars. I am partial to the natural stained look as well. I did purchase some paint - I'm still not 100% sure all the tables will be painted the same.

Eventually, I'd like to place on in the orchard in the front yard....at this point there is no shade in the front.  However, I'll eventually have a table up front....and one by the fire ring for easy s'mores and garden watching. These are "light" enough to be moved to the shade when a group arrives.

Benny's Afternoon & They're HERE

Dad, Stacia, and I made a trip to Freddies, today. My goal was to find outside toys or water toys for the 4th. Given my experience with buying fans, I knew it would be hard to find anything seasonal. ::snort::

I found ONE water gun! Just one. I began to wonder if they still make water guns. This one is in the shape of a dinosaur....and it leaks....but that didn't stop the fun when I got home.

Benny figured out how to make the dino spit (or snot as the water comes from his nose) in short order.  Here, he carefully weighs his options.

Mommy is always first! 😅

Auntie Yay ya is so fun to have around! 

 Driving is serious business. 

Waving to his fans. 

Gemma, I have things to DO. 

The highlight of the day happened at 10:40 p.m. Michael and Krista got home. We had been sending marco polos back and forth. I was outside watering and got a polo from Krista....I recognized our yard, but didn't put it all together.

"Where are you?"

 "We're here." 😀😊😅

They made amazing time once they got serious about getting here.  😉 They left  MT late Sunday afternoon and arrived in Alaska on Tuesday night.

No photo - too much hugging and talking going on.

Blondie - the Free Range Bunny

Isn't she sweet? She's an escapee from CoRille's Rabbit operation. I'm content to let her free range. She often comes near when I'm watering.

It's fun never knowing when she'll pop out to say hi.

Tonight, she let me pet her.

Mowing Monday

 Today's sun- tea choices:Prince of Peace Oolong tea in the gallon jug; Green/pomegranate tea and peppermint tea in the quart jar. I suspected no one would want the herb tea except me. I was right.  I sweetened this tea with monk fruit. Some wouldn't drink the batch sweetened with Stevia....I considered it a win that all tea drinkers drank the monk fruit sweetened tea. Dad DIDN'T add sugar. It was a bit of work to find monk fruit without Erythritol(makes me and Michael ill). I will have to find time to research some good baking recipes with monk fruit. The bag says to "add sugar" if baking. I find that hilarious. Think about it -  "add sugar to your sugar substitute." ::snort:: 

I was going about my morning when Dad came out of his room and commented he was going to get the riding mower out. He talks loud - and mentioned he mows Will's for him and he was sure he could mow ours. The difference being our place has steep inclines to navigate...and I have a 17 year old son who has taken mowing the big areas on as HIS job.  He is happy to let me do all the push mower spots. I can't get the weed eater to work for me, so Alex has to do that too. 

Alex came out of the bathroom and snuck out behind Dad. Dad smirked and laughed when we heard the mower start up.  Alex was trying to honor his grand dad; there was no way Grandpa was going to mow while Alex was here. 

The problem is Grandpa wanted to help. I could tell he really wanted to....and I suspected the movement would do his blood sugar levels good.  By the time I got outside he had the push mower out and was looking for gas. It seemed best to get out of his way. 

HE wanted to to this! AND I did jump in when he took breaks. In fact, I missed a work out because of this mowing war.....so I joined the mowing tea rather than work out ....turns out I walked over 5 miles and kept my heart-rate in the target zone for 153 minutes by the time I was done with my part of the mowing.  There is something to this "moving naturally" idea. LOL  

Dad enjoyed some time in the sun and was on hand to help anytime we ran into a problem...

At this point a spring slid over and the mower was blowing grass all over me and into my face, instead of into the bag. It's a NEW mower. Dad alerted Alex. Alex figured it out, and the rest of the mowing was much more pleasurable. 

A Bit later I was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke. That excited Dad fast. It turns out the oil cap had blown off and much oil had escaped  - what a mess. 

While I did the orchard and around the edges of the yard...Alex tackled a job Michael had left for him.  Devil's club is good to eat in the spring. Michael, however, says we don't need it all over our yard. It can be painful stuff....and it takes over. I would guess over 1/2 of our place is in the woods. This time of the years it's more like a jungle. We are working hard to increase the civilized spaces and make the woods at least accessible to US -  not just the wildlife around here. Devil's Club is the tall white flowering bush. Even the moose leave this stuff alone. 

Alex has a machete in his hand....and he is attacking....he ran into a couple of hornets nests in the process. Shortly after these photos he went inside and covered from head to tow, and got leather gloves. It was needed.

A cleared area

I weeded the two raised beds, the broccoli, cauliflower, and a path way while Alex worked with Devil's Club. Lunch never tasted so good! 

We have lots of cottonwood in our yard....

Look at all the cotton - poor Stacia

It is only right to share that Stacia cleaned the house while Alex and I worked outside.

Stacia and I are on a mission. We want to find some kid-friendly things for our yard. We have some yard games - but they really don't work for toddlers/pre-schoolers.....We still haven't found a swing set structure. We headed out to find a pool,  sand box, slide, or "something" at thrift stores.  No luck in THAT, but we had too much luck finding other things...we picked up with 5 dresses.....and pared it down to 2....

This is the cart before we started putting  things back. LOL The dish went back, we decided we didn't need 2 gallon Coleman jugs (do you REALLY want to carry them when fishing?), we put back a game, a book, a stroller.....We ended up with a couple of games, some books, clothes for the grands and a portable crib for my house. Soon,  I will not have grandkids living in the house.. I'll need to have my OWN sleeping area, toys, and high chairs for when they visit. I decided the girls can bring their own strollers if I'm watching their kids over here. 

Nolan went to work to open this a.m. and he was sent home as soon as manning allowed it. Several commented he looks friendlier with a round face. He came home around 10:00 and sat the rest of day with ice and meds.

He asked for pierogies for dinner. Michael had asked me if I could make the friend pieorgies in the air fyer. I wasn't sure, but gave it a shot tonight. Yes, I can.

Tonight we played Farkle with Lorri. She is in OR, we are in AK. We used Marco Polo but will be looking into a video chat program for the next game. LOL Lorri won. 

Michael and Krista called. They started late yesterday. They enjoyed time with old friends at church....It looked like they may not be home until the 4th. They called this evening and were stopping for the day. They had driven all night, with a break for a dip in Liam Hot Springs. They are only 900 miles away.