Breakfasts, Showers and Projects

Michael and Dad went to Men's breakfast. I began my Saturday with a tray of fruit....

 Those strawberries were not easy to find this time of year. Produce has sky-rocketed even since the last time I went shopping. Strawberries were $5 a lb and I had to buy 2 lbs to get this many that were suitable to cover and eat. LOL

Why the fancy fruit? A baby Shower! It's always such fun to meet to celebrate an upcoming blessing. Kaitlynn is having a baby boy!

Everyone brings a little and it creates a
blessing - That'll preach.

 Yay! 

Krista suggested we visit Arielle after the shower. Our presence was welcomed. Arielle had a project going on and needed extra hands. Krista was happy to provide the hands while Staci and I were happy to relax with Benny.

THIS decal was not attached to the sticky film when it arrived. They got it done....

The house is coming together.

Yes! Friday....

Hot drinks, fun atmosphere, interesting company and the chance to get to know each other a bit more...what is better than a coffee date with a friend? Siakayle got a fun design in HER cup...probably because mine is tea and not coffee. 

Stacia got to play with  Siakayle's kids while we enjoyed time together. Stacia and I headed to Freddies to pick up a few things for an event tomorrow. As we were leaving I heard, "Hi, De'Etta."

I automatically replied, "Hi," as I turned to see who it was.

It was Alicia! Alicia was on the International PWOC board when I was a Regional President...we trained women's ministry leaders in Korea and Japan together. Imagine - Korea and now ALASKA! The places we bump into each other. AnyHOW....we're all military retirees now....her husband works right here in our town and they live in the town over.

WE certainly need a coffee date to catch up. If not in January, I will make sure to schedule it in February.

Stacia and I ran by the library, mail box, and Papa Murphy's, before heading home.  Michael and Alex were waiting for the van so they could go to THEIR lunch/Bible study.

I spent an hour or so working on retreat sessions.

We dipped some strawberries for tomorrow, Krista got home from work, Dad came out of his room, the guys all got home...and we had dinner.

BreZaak took the kids with them to Alive Alaska tonight. I love watching the kids, however, I do miss Family Friday nights here at home. This is the first time I've been home with the family in 2 1/2 months on a Friday night.

We lingered over dinner....because we COULD. It was nice not to have a meeting to which we needed to rush off. We played Forbidden Island. Well these 4 played. Dad opted to make phone calls and go to bed. Michael worked on a puzzle; I watched to see how the game is played.  I had chicken in the canner and needed to fill some time. The kids have been watching MacGyver so we watched an episode followed by the movie, "Overcomer."  It was a refreshing night home together after a refreshing day out around the town.

Winter Survival Gear

Krista, Nolan and myself were gifted vehicle winter survival kits...and I am glad to have mine....but THIS is my favorite gift from Michael (so far). It has improved my winter comfort, and therefore disposition, immeasurably.

It's 20 oz. It's steel. It's double walled and guaranteed to keep drinks as "cold or as hot as scientifically possible."  My water stays cool all night.....and my tea?

My tea stayed hot Sunday all through church, lunch out, and was still warm when I got home hours later. Yes, this is truly winter survival at it's best for this tropical transplant.

This is my latest winter lesson learned.

Busy Day

I discovered running out the door, down the steps, and into the garage in -18* cold wearing t-shirt sans gloves and coat, adds extra energy to a workout!  Phoenix gave me a bit of a start! I'd forgotten he was sequestered in the garage. We hope he recovers.

Arielle worked today; Cory had the day off but wanted to get some work done on their house. I plan to have Benny on Wednesdays....so instead of me going THERE....Benny came HERE for  Baachan day. He was excited about it.  He let GG and Baachan both know he loved us.  It's always good when the grands come over - makes Dad's day!

Benny and GG 

I hadn't expected to be home all day, but Benny was here so it wasn't a good office or study day. LOL  I made use of the time to do a bit of meal prep. I roasted 3 big pans of veggies....about 1/3 of it got eaten before reaching the fridge. LOL  These are great for meals, Autumn Breakfast Casserole,  and to throw in omelets and soups. I made chicken salad...lean protein for snacking and throwing on lettuce for lunch.

Benny's a great help with veggie prep

 

I had hoped to can some chicken I found on sale - maybe tomorrow. I need to can some more beans and maybe rice too.

I'm finally realizing - with our family schedule - dinner is going to be at 5 p.m. more often than not. That makes for a very short time off between school and dinner....but it will work best.  I made some white saucy meatball and pasta thing for everyone. I didn't feel much like the meatball part of the show and settled for broccoli and sauce. LOL

Krista is leading youth group. We took Alex and Stacia to youth group and then shared a pre-marital counseling session with a young couple.

In between it all Michael and I worked to transfer files from the Dell laptop to my new HP laptop.

We're ready to call it a day.

Kitchen Window

I've always dreamed of a big kitchen window....God was gracious to give me just that....and a moose out the window too!

This is NOT Rosy - this is a bull moose - but he has a red collar as well. I am thinking all the moose being watched by the state are finding their way to our moose refuge. LOL 

I do love Alaska. 

Madder than a Wet Rooster

An unexpected sight greeted Stacia this a.m. in the chicken coop. Phoenix was bleeding.   I checked and sure enough....

The problem with chickens is when they see blood (or red, or something odd) they peck.  And the hens were starting to peck at him.

We took him into the warm garage and cleaned him up. It appears it's frostbite. We didn't see wounds on his neck when we got the blood cleaned up. We were taking the precautions other chicken owners up here take...but his comb and wattles were just to big for these cold temps.

I'm moving my exercise equipment - enough with the
Chickens perching on them. 

That phrase "madder than a wet hen?"  It applies to roosters too. We could tell he needed help as he LET us hold him and wash him without pecking...just tracking with his head and giving me the evil eye.

We put Blu-Kot on him to keep the hens from pecking....and Vaseline as it's supposed to stop frostbite.  We've got him segregated in the garage at this point.

We headed to the coop and gooped up everyone with a comb.

It's sweet that he found Petunia's box (our lame chicken which lives in the garage) almost immediately. He's settled in with her. She doesn't seem inclined to peck him.  He was always very protective of her before we separated her from the riotous hens. He's a good boy.

Stacia spent this cold afternoon working on a sewing project. She's made a cute, wrap around shirt for Annie's birthday. I think I want one.

How cold is it? It was -18* on our way home from Bible Study.  Krista is leading our study on the book of Ruth. It was really fun to participate, rather than lead.

I'm wondering if the cold effects the size of eggs? I mean seriously - what's with THIS one? We thought maybe it was Petunia's first egg....but it came from the coop.

It seems we must have a late bloomer in the coop who has started laying today.

Hard Core Full-Timer

Most of you know Michael & I, along  with 3  Gherkins were full-time RV'ers for 2 years. That is, we LIVED in our trailer (and then an RV) for two years after Michael retired from the Air Force. We loved it and would do it again...may do it again in another season...who knows? 

We came off the road and bought a home when the Gherkin migration to Alaska began. By the end of Summer 2017 eight of our children moved up here. We, of course, joined them. We enjoyed the past two years with adult children moving in with us until they settled in their new homes. We love having Dad with us now. We do at times miss the road.  However, we love our state and we especially love our little niche in the Valley north of Anchorage. 

Full-timing in Alaska is for the hard core adventurer! It's COLD at -15 and -23 (temps in our valley on a recent morning). These folks have a WOOD-STOVE in their trailer....there was smoke coming out of their chimney.....so many concerns on so many levels...but it made us smile,  and fondly remember our time on the road and ingenuity of the  the people we met.

I haven't seen something like this in any other state we visited.