Blessed Day's End

 How blessed we are to live in Alaska and end our days like this. 

After a very busy day filled with  food co-op volunteering, doctor appointments, school work and paperwork, friends stopping by, and meeting with friends in the evening...we were tired. 

10:54 p.m. and Michael called back in from putting out chickens...."Look out the window."     

Do you see it? There are blessings to staying up late around here....We had seen a female moose eying our Aspen trees earlier in the day. We think this is a different one. She is younger and has a teeny baby....

 Baby was a bit shy to begin...

Mama gave Baby lessons in stripping our foilage

Scratching and Snacking 

Baby caught on quick. 

And...did you catch these photos were taken at 10:50 - 11:05....natural light, no flash, no adjusting of colors....we ARE seeing night come quicker...but we do still have nice long days. LOL 

PSA for Gherkins

 It's HISTORIC! For the first time EVER *I* found the first 2021 penny. I exchanged it for five dollar coins. Dad wishes to remind all the Gherkins, young and old, he'll still exchange a 2021 penny for a dollar coin for everyone that finds one...one per person.  

Keep looking! 

Benny Helps me Hunt for Chicken Candy (aka slugs)

I love being a Boy Baachan - like a boy mom but better!  Today, after our date, I asked if Benny could help me with a special job before they went home. Arielle agreed.  I took a few minutes to explain and Benny was excited to help. It's rained all day but we had a clear patch to get out and take care of this. 

I SEE ONE, BAACHAN!

What is he doing? Picking slugs. Yep, of all the ways to deal with them, this is the one I could do without going to the store and it seems the least invasive. He was thrilled to hunt for them, point them out, and grab them. 

📷 by Arielle 

I told them they were like chicken candy and he was happy to find lots for the chickens.  We also took the time to pick some radishes, sugar snap peas, 2 kinds of kale,  swiss chard, cucumber and cauliflower to send home with him.  

Benny thought it was pretty special  he was "working" for  food for the family.  

He was quick to tell his mom I fell in the garden. LOL 

Dad went out to eat and up to Hatcher's Pass with Walt and Judy this afternoon. What a fun outing for him. 

Stacia and Allie are busily working on new school routines. 

Stacia continues to work on her sewing project. Allie and I snuck out to buy a few birthday surprises for Stacia's upcoming birthday...and to look for elastic. We didn't have luck - think we'll have to drive to Wasilla. 

Dinner. The first of 2021 salmon made it's way to the table. 

We ended the night with a visit with Walt and Judy. 

I bought Epsom salt and I've been collecting egg shells to get out there in the garden and try to stop the slugs. . . and I'll continue to hunt them for the chickens. 

Afternoon of Wedding Talk

We pretty much have an open door policy...and that means we are never 100% sure who will be in and out of the house on any given day. 

We KNEW the day would begin with church where Michael preached on the "Great Love of God"...though I'm pretty sure that isn't the title. LOL  Walt and Judy came to church. Dad enjoyed having his childhood best friend at church.   CyRi was set to meet us at a restaurant after church and so we needed to jet...We had lunch at Pizza Ria Delphi with CyRi and Walt and Judy. They have a gentlemen who plays Christian music on the piano on Sundays.  We enjoyed being together. Walt and Judy headed out when we left for home. 

Stacia and Livie

While we were eating Krista called to tell us she and Luke were coming out. It was fun to see them.....

And...RENO...their English Mastiff. Reno is BIG and the sweetest dog I've ever met. 

These three had a special reason to come out today. It's time to talk all things wedding. They'll be getting married in our yard in 20 short days. They will be attending Carrie's family reunion in Oregon next weekend...and then the wedding will be really close... Carrie answered our questions about how she'd like us to help. Stacia is making a cake, or two. Arielle is doing decorations. Cory and Izaak will grill. I can't remember what Krista is doing - maybe making sure the food gets out maybe. I'm setting up a photo area. We're praying for another day of good weather...it happened on July 3rd. 

Adding to the Gherkin crew

CyRi headed back to town. CoRielle were playing outside when Benny rushed in to give us very important information, "Baachan! Bad news! YOU HAVE POISION IN YOUR YARD!" 

Huh?

It turns out the pretty purple flower I was thrilled to see turn up in our yard is monkshood or wolfsbane. It's a neurotoxin and it's a bad one for kids and pets....and adults too. They say to wear gloves when handling it...of course, we didn't KNOW this and hunted it for bouquets for Krista's wedding...and I'd snipped quite a bit to arrange in jars in our house last week. ::sigh:: We're trying to figure out how to deal with the every encroaching woods. 

We all agreed it must still be summer....at least for another week or two. 

Restful Saturday

Everyone slept in - except me. LOL  I enjoyed an early morning walk around the garden, woke up the animals, and placed a couple birdhouses around the yard...

Best place for a morning cuppa tea

The nerve!  These pests manifested. I am researching the best organic way to deal with them, for now I'm collecting them and feeding them to the chickens. 

This was a mother's day present from CoRielle. Benny said when I was sad I could stick my finger in the hole and it would make me happy. It's magic. It does. I didn't want to put it outside, but I realized I WANT some fun around the yard....and in the garden....it makes me smile outside now. 

The volunteer snap dragons are everywhere. I wish we had some volunteer fireweed, I'm researching how to get some on our place. 

Pretty little house from JaRissa

They seem to blame ME for the rain.

EVERYONE loves Kale - I spoil Dash just a tad bit. 

Grandpa woke up a couple of hours before anyone else. I used a lot of our garden produce in his "standard" breakfast...he didn't comment on the produce, but he DID eat it all.  Score - snuck in  produce. 

I baked a carrot cake...well...I made an 8 inch pan of carrot cake and 12 carrot cake muffins/cupcakes. I didn't frost the cupcakes and they are sugar free so I think we can count them as muffins. Dad loves carrot cake and my hope was something he'd think was full of sugar - that WASN'T.  They were yummy. Stacia used the layer cake to make sugar-free cake pops. She had trouble getting the sugar free chocolate to melt to coat them and gave up on that to try another day. 3 of the muffins are gone, I saved 4 for tomorrow and put 5 in the freezer. 

It was an odd day with no one popping in.  It was a rainy day - the perfectly delicious sort of day for a down day. Michael worked on a sermon. The boys went out to work.  I did a boatload of laundry and baked, Stacia worked on a sewing project, and Allie worked on a writing project. 

Grandpa, the girls and I ended the day watching Almost Paradise on Prime. So, we like it. Dad and I like it most because it's set in Cebu. What can I say...we miss the Philippines.  I hope they produce a season 2. 

Michael Surprises us with a New Fire Ring

We have been talking about what we'd like an outdoor entertaining/relaxing area to look like since we moved into this house. Friday, August 5th, is four years since we closed on the house.  I was PROMISED a hot tub if I moved to Alaska, along with a sauna and a llama, none of which have materialized - yet.  

When we moved in there was an Alaskan fire ring in place. We were thrilled. One of my favorite parts of living in the RV was nearly nightly campfires....such great family talks, reads and treats around the fire.  This fire ring was basically a circle of rocks. It worked....but Michael surprised us this week...

He decided to make a real fire ring....I was a bit skeptical...I liked the rocks and I have been eying the big cast iron ones with moose cut outs.....but this turned out GREAT. 

It's deeper.  The space is more defined and it STILL has all the rocks I like so well. Yes, I want it more than the cast iron ones at Three Bears. This one has more character.  

We were thrilled to have Jamin come by for Pizza and a movie a campfire.  Big things are happening for him. He has moved into his 4-plex - the other 3 units are rented. He hired a full-time transaction coordinator for his real estate business. AND!!! He was given the option to participate in an ultra marathon in the next 2 weeks. He will run thirty miles over Ketsugi Ridge...doesn't sound "fun" to me, but to each his own. 

Michael suggested a fire, rather than a movie. It was a cool night - but not raining - seemed like a good time to try out the new fire ring. 

Michael, Nolan, Jamin, Stacia, Allie 

Stacia used the time to work on more training for Millie. We want her to be obedient enough to sit outside with us....she did good. It was a lot of work for Stacia, and then Allie. 

One night, when we were living in the RV in the redwoods, Ed, Cheryl, and boys, joined us around the campfire. They brought cast iron pie irons....I REMEMBERED and decided to try an experiment...

They had shown us to make pies with buttered bread, pie fillings, and a marshmallow.  I TRY HARD not to do sugar these days. I wondered if I could slice a fresh apple thin, sprinkle it with cinnamon and use one of the smallish max mallows.... These guys couldn't be tempted to try anything other than ye ole s'mores.

Michael opted for traditional as well. He may have actually simply had a roasted marshmallow. 

Stacia is an adventurous foodie. LOL 

My apple pie was SO incredibly GOOD. 

Jamin went home. We talked on. Stacia and Millie went in. We talked on. Nolan went to bed. We talked on. Michael, Allie and I talked late into the night...until we had a great bed of coals and I was left dreaming of buying a Dutch oven....though it would have been a bit late to try to make anything. LOL 

Endings and Beginnings....

Today marked the end of the first week of  the beginning of Allie's senior, and Stacia's junior year, of high school.  A funny story about THIS fact....we do summer school. Stacia had a couple of upcoming 1/2 credit classes to get a jump start on. Allie had one class to get a jumpstart on and a couple last catch up classes to finish....so we worked through May and June.  

July began with guests and Krista's wedding, it ended with guests and dip netting. Allie's online course cut off on June 31st . We had to  re-register before she could continue.   It seemed a July break would be perfect.  I noted Stacia continued to work on school. I was impressed with her dedication. 

I've been observing an odd little look Stacia gives Allie when I mention break being over....and the rolling start of our school year. Last night we were talking about school and I mentioned this was their first week of school. The look manifested. 

"What does the look mean?" 

"School starting is a bit of a sore point." 

"You don't want to do school? Why?" 

Um - it appears Stacia missed the memo (I really don't KNOW how) that we were on summer break in July. We were well into July before she figured out why Allie was sleeping in without comment from me, and why she was the only one concerned with school. ::snort:: 

Poor thing - not sure how to make that up to her. LOL 

Not only is this the beginning of the school year... it is also the end of Allie's summer job. She has worked seasonally for the past two years at Yukon John's - frying and selling pork rinds...you'll see them at various gun shows, craft shows, and the State Fair. Nice people. She introduced us to pork rinds this spring. I'll probably never eat a pork rind without thinking about Allie. 

Stacia suggested a tea to celebrate all these beginnings and endings... I am always up for a tea....we had fun prepping. Grandpa was interested and was invited to the tea table. We picked Allie up  - she was suitably surprised by our impromptu celebration and helped with the finishing touches. The candles did brighten the gray day...well, candles and giant light bulbs. 

The party started with just us 4...Grandpa kept saying, "When is everyone getting here?"  The concept of a tea party for JUST US seemed foreign to him.  I think we'll win him over.  He also wanted to know why we didn't have a "Coffee Party?"

Stacia made a sugar free carrot cake - that is YUMMY....these gold flakes were perfect in the sugar- free, cream cheese frosting.  In the end we scraped a LOT of frosting off. We decided to make some carrot cake  cake pops in the next couple of days. It was just too much sweet - even those it wasn't sugar. 

Michael came home and accepted our invite to sit a spell.  Arielle and the boys popped in while we were sipping away....they were quickly invited to the tea table. 

Arielle had the audacity to point out  a couple of my birch leaves have  yellowed. It is NOT fall. It IS summer.  But....in the midst of this tea I remembered....we first began our family tea parties when assigned at Elmendorf AFB.  The winter days are long. We broke for a quick tea every day...from where ever the kids were...they'd settle in at the table and we'd talk about studies, reading, plans, games....just a fancy after school snack really. It's at that assignment I first learned to like tea.  

Introducing a new generation to the tea table

And so - with a new winter approaching...we will reinstate our family teas...maybe not every day...but often enough.  The way the table grows...who knows what fun we may have during the winter. 

The changing of seasons is exciting...challenging if the long one ahead isn't your favorite...but I'm being reminded to celebrate the endings, the beginnings, and to EMBRACE the change - even if it's winter.

Today, I am happy to re-discover something pleasant to anticipate as the season changes....

We had planned to meet Jamin this evening to try out his paddle board and get a few pointers. No, we don't have paddle boards...but we may at some point. LOL  Today has been rainy and dreary. We've switched gears and he is on his way for pizza and a movie instead. It's good to flex with the seasons as they come - especially at this time of year in Alaska. LOL