Busy @ Carrie's

The highlight of today was helping Carrie get some projects done at her home. Cory and us 5 congregated on their home with tools and truck. The first order of the day was moving a patio table and treadmill from her garage to more useful locations. We met their neighbor, Tyler, who also attends ACF church. He came over and helped move the treadmill up the stairs...this allowed Michael's bad back to avoid lifting. 

To be honest, Michael didn't feel he needed help. Cory and I overruled him...and in the end Cory admitted it was heavy and he was glad Michael didn't tax his back. 

While Cory and Michael put together the table and the treadmill, the girls and I moved piles of "stuff" previously collected in the yard to the driveway. Carrie's Dad came and he and Jamin loaded the truck. Jerry, Carrie's Dad, took 2 loads to the dump. When Josiah and Carrie bought the house, the previous owners per agreement left a variety of things to dispose. They were gardeners, Carrie is not. 

Even Josi came out and enjoyed the fresh air and activity. 

It was quite a process watching Cory and Michael move a glider into Josi's room and the treadmill into Carrie's room. LOL  I am always amazed how things usually CAN fit around corners when one is motivated.  

We also went through a shed with Carrie and brought some of Josiah's outdoor gear to our home where everyone will be able to borrow it as they would like. While the guys put things together and loaded the truck for the dump, the girls visited with Liv and snuggled with Josi. I missed photos. 

GG and Josi

We ended up benefitting from the previous gardeners. We brought home a compost thingy (looks like a big bingo pot), couple trellis', Josiah's outdoor equipment, greenhouse siding, canning supplies, and LOTS of cardboard! 

Stacia spent the night in town so she can be with Josi and Liv tomorrow. Allie, GG and I headed home to finish dinner and meet Jenni. Jamin had to get back to work.  Michael and Cory loaded up the truck, drove home and unloaded the truck. 

It was a gorgeous day today! The skies were striking this morning as I sipped my cuppa chai in the garden. In the morning. Before any work. It doesn't happen if I wait. LOL Look how GREEN everything has recently gotten. 

I knew the day was going to be busy and didn't plan to spend time in the garden today but sitting out there led to weeding the strawberries, finding a couple more spears of asparagus and a strawberry, and planting 3 tomato plants and some sugar snap peas.  There is something to the "relaxing in the garden" theory. 

Do you wonder what we are going to do with our new gardening finds? The trellis' will go right into garden beds. The cardboard is going to be placed in the garden walkways and covered with mulch. Michael plans to take the greenhouse siding and make little covers for several beds to extend our growing season. CoRielle may take the composty thing...if not it will be good for mixing our own soil amendments in future years. 

We enjoyed dinner and an episode of All Creatures Great and Small with Jenni.  

Michael began drawing up deck plans. It's become apparent I am challenged when picturing blueprints.  I need to go outside with a measuring tape, rope and cardboard to lay things out. LOL 

Allie, Michael and I found something to watch on Netflix after GG went to bed. 

It was a good, productive, beautiful, long day...mixed with moments of longing and missing Josiah...just about where we should be at this point of our new journey. 

Afternoon Tea (& Summary of a Full Day)

The highlight of my day was continuing my quest to successfully introduce the next generation to the wonders of afternoon tea. While Bre took Trudy, Gideon and Bella to a well-child check...these two and I had a tea party. 

Jojo (Josiah) and Annie

Annie and I took our tea outside so she and Jojo could ride bikes too. They have a new plant and picnic table...nice additions. 

In the background you can see CoRielle's home (blue one) - which Nolan and Alex lease. 

I ran over to drop off eggs with a gal and then to a neighbor's home to pick up some produce she wanted to share. I raced home expecting Krista would be out to interview Michael and for dinner. Plans changed so we settled in for dinner and the first night in a long time when all five us were home...

OH - other highlights of the day...I had a sourdough round which over-proofed. It looked like a flying saucer. We have plenty of nice ones in the freezer. The chickens thought it was a wonderful treat. 

I didn't get my cuppa chai in the garden or greenhouse today...but I did move some seedlings into the house under the grow light, weeded 3 beds, moved cardboard into the garden and cleaned up the greenhouse a bit. 

Michael had an appointment today. He hooked up water to the greenhouse and garden (I'll have to grab a photo tomorrow) and did a few other things which I missed as I was out running around. 

Stacia went to therapy this afternoon (Allie saw her therapist yesterday) and to the library. The receptionist at the therapist's think there may be a way for the Victims of Violent Crime to pay for the co-pays. They've given me some new numbers to try, I've previously been told our co-pays would come off the total amount they'd pay out for Carrie and the girls. The receptionist seems quite sure that is not the way it is supposed to work.  I'll add that to the list of phone calls I keep forgetting to make. ::snort:: Seriously, it's GARDENING SEASON I can't be making phone calls. I'm trying. I've got messages out to 4 lawyers...I better try to make some calls in the morning. 

Allie took her new guitar to get strings put on it, and to drop off library books.  

Cory came over and finished getting the electric fence up and working. This usually helps with the moose. They learn to avoid the garden. He also worked to tame the part of the garden we are not planting this year. All the brown is area he burned. We hope to figure out a fence which would keep the chickens in that section and out of the rest of the garden. They'd keep the grass down and enjoy doing it. 

Though there were moments of this job Cory seemed to enjoy. 

Cory also began rototilling the devil's club. This is our NEWEST attempt to kill the stuff. It is moving out of the wood and into our yard...it's NASTY stuff. NOTHING we've tried has worked. We'll see if this does. 

Check this out - just because it's odd. While cleaning up Allie dropped a fry - look were it landed. I told her it's probably time to plan that shopping trip she's been avoiding. LOL 

Bachan's Playdate with Noah

I got to spend the morning with Noah Bear! I arrived in Eagle River at 0745...Noah seemed to sense something was up - and he was up! He and Jared are enjoying some "boy time" as Larissa is out of town with her job.  

Now, if you're a blog reader you KNOW Noah has an amazingly beautiful head of hair. Unfortunately, Bachan didn't think to get lessons on how to tame the morning hair. We had breakfast. 

Played peek a boo...

I changed Noah's diaper and tried to comb his hair. 

Bachan and Noah 

Hmmm....Noah ran and brought me styling gel and the comb. ::snort::  He didn't seem very happy with the results...but we moved to his room and read, played with toys....

"Really, Bachan?"

Until he fell asleep and took a nice nap. 

Arielle, Benny and Danny showed up at lunch time and I drove across to Wasilla so I could volunteer at our Organic Food/Produce co-op. I was able to bring the cardboard home and have plans to spread it under mulch in the garden. 

Memorial Day

I had hoped to work in the garden today - but it rained. I DID go sit in the greenhouse with my cuppa chai. ::grin:: 

Most everyone around here had a slow wake up. Stacia went to watch BreZaak's kids so they could go out on a date. 

Jared and Noah arrived around 1 p.m. It was fun to visit...Larissa is away on a work trip and the guys will be going duo this week. 

Hello, guys!

We visited and played.  I called Arielle to see if she and Cory could help me out so that I could volunteer for co-op (I was signed up as back up). They were about to go hike the Butte. I suggested they stop by drop off Ellie - which they did. 

Jared and Noah

Jared & Noah

Ellie @ 2 months

Noah and Allie

Jamin arrived and we kept visiting. CoRielle came back from their hike...The boys and Cory hiked the Butte last week, but this was Arielle's first trip up since having Ellie. I shamelessly got these from Arielle's story.  As a side note - may I say it makes me happy every time I post a photo of Charles and don't have to put an emoji over his face! LOL 

Arielle and Benny

Three proud boys!

Jenni dropped by. CoRielle and the boys came to retrieve Ellie. They stayed to visit and play. 

Cory, Danny, Benny

I had started some chili this morning. Everyone stayed for an impromptu dinner. As often happens people congregate in the kitchen/dining room. 

We do have a perfectly accessible living room. 

Allie, Nolan, Stacia Danny, Noah, Charles

Jamin and Jenni ducked out. CoRielle ducked out. Noah discovered the Magna doodle and he LOVED it. 

Jared and Noah went home.  GG went to bed. The rest of us played Ransom Note. The game is always different - even when you get the same prompts. 

Stacia, Allie, Nolan, Michael

It was an unexpectedly fun and social day. 

Sunday...

We had a big announcement at church this morning. Alliance Christian Fellowship in Eagle River is going to be starting a second campus in Anchorage around Christmas. We've been around ministry for a lot of years and were not surprised by this announcement. "Healthy things grow and growing things change," as Pastor Brian shared this morning. The service opened with a video showing the history of the church since Brian arrived...it was a fun watch...and then JOSIAH was on the screen and 30 seconds later Jamin was on the screen (17:14 and 17:41).  It really is an exciting time to be at ACF and I know deep down there will be more changes to come...because the four services are bursting at the seams and the parking lot is CRAZY chaotic... LOL 

After church we headed into Red Robin. We grabbed our food to go and met at Luke and Krista's.  Our next stop was the "new" Costco to pick up a few items. They had the bread flour even though I'd been told twice it was no longer a Costco item. I'm glad we checked. I'm a bit unsure about the amount Michael selected. LOL 

He got it all to fit...

Allie & GG up front, Stacia in the back

In the afternoon Michael worked on getting the garden fence ready to operate...we can't find the controller...so the garden is still very moose vulnerable.  I tried to create a trellis...and it looked great until it fell over. LOL 

Mama and the babies came back. I found little hoof marks in the strawberry bed. 

Aaron and Elise came over in the evening. It was so GOOD to see them. Michael and Aaron brainstormed about a new project we are going to ask Aaron to take care of for us. I THINK he will end up fixing and shoring up our deck and extending parts of it.  There was no deck when we bought the house, and we asked the owners to put one on...I am glad we did so we had something right away - but it isn't faring well...and there have been times there were 30 people on the deck and it worried us. LOL 

Stacia has had the moving itch pretty bad for the past months....and so today she pulled out her old loft bed and rearranged her part of the girls' room. She created a cave and will use the top of the bed for storage.  In the midst of all the movement there was a teachable moment with Mike. 

Stacia's cave

Part of the girls' room

This photo was posted by a neighbor - bears up a tree about a block away. It's a zoo out here. 

Photo via Facebook

And here's a screen shot from the church's page...look it's Jamin manning a camera. 

Yes, I am attempting to catch up the blog. I quit for a bit of time as I thought through some stuff from counseling. The comment was made if someone hasn't respected the access I have given them to my heart, or if they've been untrustworthy with that access, it isn't unforgiving to limit further access. This led to the realization that I have lived as if I were obligated to answer every question in order to be "authentic." In truth I have lived with few internal or external boundaries. All THAT led me to consider the blog and I simply didn't have the energy to decide what I wanted to do,  so I rested. 🤣

Garden Adventure (hint Moose are sometimes hard to avoid!)

 Yikes - I have not blogged with any regularity since April 18th. I will get back to that...this evening's adventure in the garden has ignited my motivation to capture an event!  

CoRielle and the boys gave me the gift of prepping the garden for Mother's Day. Some will remember we have a largish garden plot which was previously a horse pasture. The weeds have been a constant battle. We simply weren't up to it last summer and decided to "let the land rest on the 7th year" - um - Alaska weeds don't rest. Enough said.  

This year I decided to try to tame 1/3 to 1/2 of the plot....let the chickens try to tame the rest.  Not only will this be more attainable than taming the whole area, Michael and I don't NEED as much food as we have in years past. If the kids eventually want to garden parts of it, they can. We simply don't need to can 100 jars of pickles. 

 I also decided I was NOT going to focus solely on the work of gardening...my energy is low this year. I will work most days for a bit, and I will enjoy a cuppa chai tea in my garden or greenhouse each and every day of the season. This will help me enjoy the process. It will also help me see things I want to do the next day, or next year. Right?  Nature is therapeutic to me - and I need all the therapy help I can garner this year. My soul is weary and sad...and joyful and hopeful...and that is an odd mix to learn to carry at the same time. 

 Another garden goal for the year is NOT to plant 24 squash plants. We don't love squash. I had enough squash that I supplied our local Russian church several weeks with baskets and baskets of squash. I may plant 2 or 3 plants...ONLY. 

I have debated about when to plant because our last frost date is May 31st.  Michael and I finally decided to get a few things into the garden beds. I searched through the seeds left over from two years ago and made a plan. I hope the germination is still good. 

 I weeded 1/2 the green house, started some seeds, prepped some potatoes, and planted some peppers and spinach in the greenhouse, lettuces (3 kinds), kale and Brussel sprouts in the garden beds. A couple of weeks ago the chickens got into this bed which had asparagus and strawberry plants in it. They made a mess. I gave up and bought some strawberry plants to add to the bed. 

I am thrilled to discover a few spears have been spared. Maybe there will be more? 

Lettuces and Kale should be fine - if it doesn't freeze. 

We drove into JBER for a family game night. Michael and I came home early so we could get GG to bed. He is much happier with his routine in place. GG went to bed. Michael and I enjoyed the quiet house. We had a good conversation, there are few legal things in the works capturing our attention. It is good to remember we have left justice in the hands of One who judges righteously. 

I still hadn't had my cuppa chai in the garden today. I worked for a couple of hours in the garden, my hands ache, it was time to ensure I enjoy the garden.  I headed out. I dream of a pavilion in the garden...but at this point it more closely resembles a horse pasture with garden beds placed in it. 😂 The chairs were set between the beds and the electric fence - which Michael hasn't activated yet. We haven't had many moose in the yards for months. I sipped chai, got on Marco Polo to give Beth and Julie a personal update and a garden tour. I began to ask for prayer and discuss said legal details. I heard some noise. I thought Michael had come out to put the chickens in and was coming over to talk. I still had Marco Polo running when I turned to tell Michael to say hello...and low and behold!!!!!

They had come around the wood pile and were about to come between the pile and the fire ring to the nice green shoots in the garden.  The problem of course is that *I* was between them and the garden. I couldn't make it to the back door of the house.  I have NEVER been this close to moose...and she was a MAMA with BABIES.  I yelled for Michael. The living room window was open. He looked and saw the moose. He thought I was upset they would eat the garden. He got up to look and then noted me rooted in my chair.  

"WHAT DO I DO?"

He came out on the deck with the idea to shoot marbles at the burn barrel. But if they RAN - they'd run over me. He realized I wasn't concerned about the garden shoots. 

At this point I remembered the man in Homer who was in the paper this week for dying because he was trying to take a photo of moose twins. Well....I thought, "I AM in this predicament. I can't get forward. If I run, she's faster.  I may as well take a photo."

 I turned off the Marco Polo and took a photo. 

Michael continued to try to figure out how to help and where to advise me to go. 

I decided to talk softly, quietly mother to mother with mama moose. This alerted her I was sitting in the chair. They walked around the other side of the beds and left. 

I finished my cuppa chai.  I also turned Marco Polo back on, watched the end of the polo and laughed...a lot...and then assured them I lived through the adventure. 

By comparing the wood stump and moose in the first picture I am able to see just how close they were to me. The red X is where the moose were. The turquoise X is where I was rooted. The black dashes show I was much closer than I knew I was - Michael tells me it was 7 feet. 

I'm adding another garden goal - AVOID close encounters with Moose!