An Odd "Thing"

 A very odd thing happened in our home this drizzly Saturday.....

Millie came wandering into our room. Michael doesn't usually let the dogs in our room. He called out, "Millie!" 

And Millie came running....she jumped up on the bed and snuggled up with him. The odd thing? He let her stay. ::snort:: 

It's cute the way she is winning Michael over. She's come a long ways this week towards being a nice, well-behaved, socialized pup. What changed? 

Two weeks ago she got her "fresh start" trim. I seriously think getting all the hair out of her eyes helped her behavior. She wasn't startled as often. She also isn't as intimidating when she looks like a well trimmed poodle, vs a 60 lb hair ball. LOL We were amazed how much difference a hair cut made for her....


This week, the e-collar we'd ordered arrived. Stacia is the only one with the control.  She never needs more than a quick vibration if she doesn't obey to remind her to obey.  She's like a whole new dog....most of the time. 

Doctors and Playdates

I took Dad to visit an orthopedic specialist today. He has been complaining, and then not complaining, about pain in his elbow. His primary doc has checked it twice, the ER doc took x-rays. He still has intermittent pain. We agreed it would be good to see a specialist. This doc took another x-ray and said when it hurts he needs to wear the sling the ER doc gave him. I am also ordering a heelbo. I have been trying to get him to wear the sling, he resists. Using a walker with the sling is a problem, as is eating. However, we now know this is the best medical option for his situation. It isn't  broken and he doesn't need meds etc. 

While we spent a fun afternoon at the docs, he was 70 min late for the appointment, the girls joined Arielle and the boys to "find an adventure." I LOVE hearing Benny talk about adventures. We moved OFTEN when the kids were young. I often got lost - I would tell the kids we were having an  "adventure." It was quite common to find us in a new location, not quite sure where we were going, but off to find an adventure. This is how the kids and I ended up spending a day on the subways in South Korea in search of the "Toilet Museum."  So fun to see that spirit in a new generation. 

via Arielle's 📷 

They visited two parks and then went  home with Arielle. There was swinging, sliding, laughing, and picnicking. 

via Arielle's 📷 

via Arielle's 📷 

GG and I think they had the better afternoon. 🤣

Michael spent the day prepping  a sermon and working on his big project. 

I started feeling sick at the doc's and came home to sleep. Stacia and Allie made Chicken Divan while  I began my fight with "Allie's bug."😂

The wildflowers are out. I love this time of year in Alaska. 

A Rainy Day

 I caught a sunrise this a.m. as I dropped Alex at work....it was over by the time I got out to walk...but I saw it. LOL 

We have had four or five GLORIOUS, sunny, warm days....and then this a.m. looked gray and overcast.  We expected rain all day - we finally got our downpour around 3 p.m. 

We've had several busy gardening, project days....I was happy for an excuse to stay inside and apply ice and heat to various sore muscles - mostly my shoulder.  

This is how we enjoyed our rainy day. 

GG - read the paper, drank coffee and made phone calls. 

Michael had an appointment with the chiropractor. He discovered the VA has just cancelled all the approvals for their members....good grief. He has Parkinsons and degenerative discs, this is helping with stiffness and pain. He began the fight to get his appointments reinstated. Michael also made a hospital visit. 

I wrapped in a blanket and read a mystery, while sipping cups of chai. Perfection. 

Nolan had the day OFF and made as much progress as possible on his last 2 classes of this semester. 

Alex worked and rode home in the rain. 

Allie spent some time on math and then laid low. She's been a bit under the weather off and on. 

Stacia took Millie on a training run. She reports it went well and she was thrilled to be able to run even though Allie wasn't up to it. She also worked on a bit of summer school and baked cookies for youth group (leaded and sugar free). 

Stacia, Michael and I headed to the church in the evening.  When we got home we watched the new Loki episode. 

...but it all started by catching the sunrise this morning....set the day on a good course. 

Walking Totals: 1.8 miles today. 464.67 mi YTD/ 1000 mile goal

An Afternoon at Grandma Baachan and Papa's

Any day which begins with 9 lbs of crunchy peanut butter, and ends with grilled salmon,  has great potential. Do you agree?  This was surprisingly easy to mix up, my phone did NOT end up submerged in said nut butter, we filled a pint jar and the rest is in the downstairs fridge. LOL  I ordered 9 lbs of CREAMY peanut butter on my next Azure Order. 

Those apple slices (plated) demand
peanut butter

So yummy!

Today was another glorious spring/summer day! I spent a good portion of the day moving the tractor sprinkler, trying to get some water on most parts of the yard. 

Bre  mentioned Bella was interested in gardening. I am obviously THRILLED to cultivate this interest. I've offered my space for community gardening. LOL  They stopped by today armed with their garden gloves.... Gideon decided he'd rather mind the water supply than play in the dirt. Annie is such a good sport! 

Bella was happy to water the sad little plants. 

She  moved compost into the bed - then  dug a hole and planted seeds. 

Carrots, radishes and one green onion - the start of the kids' garden. 

Stacia was happy to listen to her book and work on a couple of inside chores today - rather than gardening. Allie is fighting a stomach bug and rested most the day.  Stacia juiced a case of lemons - some frozen in cube trays for veggies and such and the rest into bags ready to make fresh lemonade this summer. 

She also baked up some cookies for a bit of a snack with the kids. It isn't ALL work when you visit Grandma Baachan. 

In fact there IS a lot of play amidst the work....fun on the trampoline...we need to replace this soon - or replace the top. I need to research and see if it's worth it to replace the top. 

Swinging....

Relaxing...

...and of course playing in the sprinkler. We need to get a kid-friendly sprinkler or wading pool for the yard. 

Michael ended the day by trimming around the perimeter of the garden space. The next step is to repair wire and turn on the electric fence. Those moose will soon discover our tender plants if we don't take precautions now. 

Are you familiar with the Tim Hawkins song, "I'll clean up for you?" Michael rocks  - this is even better. "I'll trim up for you!" - that's what love means to me. 

And so it begins...Garden 2021

 Hmmm...it's been a "hot minute" since I've blogged...6 weeks to be exact. Much has happened in that time, wedding planning, engagements, bridal showers, school and more school, paperwork, financial planning...life. I tend to get "stuck" on big events I want to get right and then don't blog for months. I am aware of this tendency. I have noted I tend to skip blogging in the Alaskan summer and falls...and I'm determined not to let that practice stand. We LOVE the spring, summer and fall (glorious week) up here and need to share them, lest years from now our descendants think Alaska is one long winter. LOL 

I'll start "today"  and backfill as I go.... 

Even by Alaskan standards I am a couple of weeks "behind" in getting my garden in.  We are late to plant, but the abundance of sun helps things grow fast up here. I am learning to get things done in snatches...when Dad is napping...and when there aren't appointments. Michael has been working on a big garden project which has diverted his help for things like rototilling and hauling dirt. We had to wait until the week AFTER memorial day to get our garden compost/soil. In any event.....here are a few before shots.... 

Yes, I AM aware one can cover the ground in the fall and weeds are supposed to magically disappear. My beds WERE covered. The ground is covered with black plastic...

The Squash patch 

Cardboard, left-over shingles, roll of roofing paper, tarps and old carpet. The chickweed and dandelions made cracks in the shingles etc...and grew up anyway. 

Nolan and Alex are working long hours. Michael is busy with another project and this "space" is just too much for me to conquer....and yet I'm learning not to live life with an "all or nothing" mentality. I've decided to simply weed the beds and around the beds and plant. I'm not sure I'll plant the squash corner this year, or the potato patch. I can't find onion sets. I'll do what I can do. 

For the first hour it was me and Millie in the garden, as the girls were out for a run.  Millie is quite the dandelion slayer. The trick will be keeping her out of the beds when they are planted. She can scratch in the ground all she wants. Note her "fresh start" hair cut. I need to get some before and after shots of her blogged. 

Gardening is hard work! 

This bed is, for some reason, favored by our moose population. The hoop is bent beyond help and the cover was shredded, the bed  was well fertilized - thus lots of weeds. I removed the frame and we set to weeding. 

I finished weeding the one bed I had planned to do today - I also tackled the tall grass and weeds around it. After lunch it was time to fill it with the new soil and plant...there were challenges.  Michael took pity on me and interrupted his project to mow a path from the dirt pile to the garden. This was incredibly helpful and much quicker than my plan of weed eating it all. Again, I planned to do it "all" and Michael proved doing a bit was a huge help and we'll get to the rest of it later.  I'm learning the beauty of "tomorrow." ::snort:: 

I kept weeding beds and the girls began hauling dirt to the beds. They were a great help. 

Allie and Stacia are extremely happy to be done with school so they
can help with yardwork! LOL 

Grandpa woke up from his nap. Alex got home from work and was happy to stay upstairs with GG so we could continue working outside. We far surpassed my goal for the day. We went with the momentum.

If you give a girl a hose.... I told them to soak the bed, I wanted it wet several inches deep.....

There is certainly nothing wrong in having fun while you work - in fact there is a lot right about it. There was talk about stomping grapes, I waited to hear if they were going to move on to mud wrestling, at which point I may have intervened. LOL  Maybe. 

The girls headed in for showers and I planted two of the beds. The starts in the greenhouse are looking pretty ragged. It's good to get them into the beds, even though the majority of the garden is still a weed patch. LOL 

I planted two kinds of cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and broccoli in this bed. 

 

This bed has two more  Brussel sprouts, cabbage, a few broccoli, lettuce and asparagus. I need to research asparagus. I'm wondering if I let it go to seed if I'll get more here next year. 

I still have this in the greenhouse to get planted....and beets, carrots and beans to direct seed. OH - and a lot of potato starts from last year's harvest...if we get that far. The farmer down the road hasn't planted his potatoes yet, so there is still hope. 

I found a few small beet plants, one lettuce plant, one onion, and an asparagus amongst the weeds. This makes me wonder if I can leave some planted in the fall and get a jump start on the spring next year. I may try a bit and see.  I assumed it was too cold and dark to try that....but somehow I had tiny beet plants. 

If one is very disciplined with their eyes, it's starting to look like a civilized garden plot. LOL 

We were supposed to have respite care today but Benny was running a low-grade fever. In many ways THIS was the best respite we could have had for the day. Michael made good progress on his project (which I'll blog when it's done), I made good progress in the garden. 

But, alas, it was 5:30 p.m. and none of us had given dinner a thought. The girls and I ran to the store. I was too tired to go in. They ran in and bought deli chicken, potato salad, a get well balloon and gift for Benny. Ah, and epsom salt! I sat in the car and hydrated. We dropped by and "surprised" CoRielle and then headed home to get dinner. Michael ran out to the hospital.  We got veggies and fruit to added to the pickings from the store  and ate. 

I'm told we watched an episode on Netflix - but Millie and I slept through most of it. 

Walk, Walk, Walk

 I LOVE walking. 

There is no reason for me to walk - other than I discovered during quarantine it is my FAVORITE exercise, and it works. I was walking 5 -7 miles a day...and then....caregiving, winter, planter fasciitis interrupted my routine. I finished the winter on the bike and elliptical. 

I like getting OUTSIDE to work out. I like seeing the area I live in. I enjoy getting further and further from home...on my feet. I enjoy to the time to think, pray, connect with others, and polo with friends. I listen to podcasts and music. 

Last fall at this spot a gal stopped and gave me a ride up the road as there was a mama and baby moose who did not intend to let me pass. LOL 

And so...in May I began to gingerly start walking - and I discovered my feet still hurt, but no worse. I also added to my routine of rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle, stretches...but stretches AFTER HOT WATER soaks...and things are slowly improving. I hope. 

I started walking 1/2 a mile....it was a big day when I walked 2 miles. Today I walked 4.36 miles.  I had a yearly goal of walking 1000 miles. I may make it even though I was totally sidelined in Jan/Feb. 

I go after I drop Alex at work at 0500. It's warmed up enough that I can shed the coat, hat and gloves. I had dreams of catching the sunrise and that worked for about a week. NOW the sun is rising at 4:12 a.m. and setting at 11:41 p.m.  I have accepted it will be a rare sunrise walk for me. LOL  BUT this is still worth getting up early to see....and at 0500 most of the crazies haven't let their dogs out to run wild in "the country." 

Walking Total - 460.51 miles/1000 miles 

Sunday Afternoon Ride

 I don't know that you can beat the decor in our sanctuary! And how often do you get to preach in your cruise hat??? 

After lunch the guys all settled in to rest and nap and such. The girls and I headed out for a bike ride. 

I gotta keep my eye on them every second lest they wander into danger. LOL 

After the long winter (which felt longer than typical somehow) we are LOVING outside. We're spending as much time as possible walking, biking, hiking and gardening....well "I" enjoy the gardening. The rest of them - not so much. 

The wildflowers are out - we were especially happy to see Fireweed. 

Gathering with church family, the river, mountains, wildflowers, sun, warm temps - all very good for our souls this Sunday.