Moose at Play

On a day when "nothing happens" - there are always the moose. The moose, in themselves, are an adventure. Without further ado, moose at play.

One must be alert and aware when walking in our wooded area. 

One Moose

Two Moose

Do you see me by the fire pit? 

How nice of you to build a wind block! 

Do you see me taunting you in the garden plot? I'll be back. 

I liked it better when you had cabbage and corn out here. 

This one worked her way around to the front. To our newly planted "orchard." This is the closest one has come to discovering our tiny trees.

Hmmm.....what do we have here? Fences yield the best munchies.

Which is my best side? This? 

Talking smack! 

Or this? 

*Note - absolutely no moose were harmed, teased or taunted in any way during this photo shoot. They come to our yard, we stay on the porch or in the nook and capture their images. There are the times they surprise me while I'm in the coop - but that's THEIR bad - not mine. LOL 

Teething on Salmon

We split up today. Stacia and I stayed home. Our schedules were delightfully interrupted last week, and we both felt we could use this "day off" best by catching up.  Stacia worked on school. I edited her papers, answered her questions, worked on various Bible studies, and did a couple of admin ministry type things.

Michael and Alex, picked up Izaak and met Josiah at Matanuska Lake. They continue to learn ice fishing techniques. It's a learning curve. Summer 2017 we had to learn the whole fly fishing- salmon fishing technique. Summer 2018 we learned dip netting and set netting. Winter 2019 - it's ice fishing baby. ::snort::  We may need to find a local to show us how to get the really big ones OUT OF THE ICE!  Izaak did drag a couple of good sized Arctic Char out of the lake.

{Insert imagined photos}

The guys got home after 5 p.m. - tired and hungry. We ate. We decided to take care of fish tomorrow. It promises to be a fishy day with filleting, brining (is that a WORD?), smoking and canning.

Arielle and Benny visited our floor of the house to see Josiah. I had some smoked salmon out for Josiah. Benny's an all Alaskan boy. He saw the smoked fish - and he chowed down. I asked him if he wanted a bit and he shoved it all into his mouth.

Those eyes! 

"Benny, do you like fish?" 

He opened his mouth to show me. 

He charmed Uncle Cy and got more...

Uncle Alex came in and took some salmon for himself. 

His actions did not meet with Benny's approval. There are some things a guy just doesn't want to share! 

Benny is all S family.....but that scowl is all Gherkin. It's nice to see the Gherkin scowl has come down to another generation. ::snort:: 

2019 Super Wolf Blood Moon

 Arielle had done her research and came upstairs to look for the moon at just the right times for us to see the HUGE moon, the eclipse, the color changes....homeschooled student to the rescue. She was ON IT.

Benny and Arielle

 If she hadn't been so invested in this event.....this door would have probably discouraged us from going out to take photos. It was -2 out there! That's cold!

Ice on the INSIDE of our screen door

Michael got the HUGE lens - the SUPER lens, bundled up and went out to take photos.

Serious photographer

He took a few and then came inside to see WHY he was having so much trouble seeing through his lens.

My favorite photo.

Frozen lens - #AlaskanProblem

#Alaskan Problem....it's hard to take photos when the lens is frozen over. He couldn't even see the side of the house with it.

He switched from the telescope (mostly metal) lens, to the Nikon lens, and headed back out. The kids went with him. The whole family has this strange love of cold. I fondly remember Africa, the Philippines....

 I was content to stay warm in the house and watch from my perch by the wood stove. This, however, hampered my photos greatly. ::snort::

Yes, that's a moon!

Ah, well. I'm content to let Michael and Stacia grab photos when it's this cold. 

I did go out to get a few people photos. The bright light on my camera blinded them. It's my trademark. I came back inside to watch the show. 

Alex and Stacia

Benny and Cory

I am glad Arielle came up when she did and reminded us of the event which was about to occur. Otherwise, we may have just wasted the night with Dominion and books. LOL  

While I Was Sipping Tea.....

Josiah, Michael, Alex and Stacia went ICE FISHING again. Josiah continues to add to his ice fishing gear. Mike and Alex had new ice fishing poles to try out. Much easier to deal with than the longer poles......

Inside the tent - I love the heater. 

Josiah bought a tent! The tent sits over the holes they augured out (see above), a heater is inside the tent with them, and instead of -18* they enjoyed about 50* temps.  This is a piece of equipment I've been politicking for. I can't wait to go out with them.  The talk about future gear includes another tent (only 2 holes fit inside this one without chance of mishap), a cargo sled,  or a gas-powered auger.  I told them we need to buy a cabin on a lake and put up a hard sided shed over the ice holes. LOL

Josiah and Alex sport Alaskan beards

A word about Alaskan beards. My men tell me that it is very nice NOT to have to shave in the winter. Their beards provide an extra layer of protection when the temps are below 0. I do feel bad for those in our midst who have to shave daily due to employment....Nolan....at times Cory and Izaak, I think.

There's ALWAYS a photo bomber in the midst

Stacia really liked the tent for fishing. We've discovered she likes to fish, but she doesn't want to TOUCH her fish. What's with THAT? Ah, well, when she goes, we get 5 extra fish. LOL

They were warm enough to begin shedding winter gear. 

Alex likes fishing without the gloves

We were hoping for 5lb Arctic Char ...but continue to get Kokanee Salmon/Trout.  Michael and Cy both hooked some, but they got away. They say you can tell the difference.  

When I hooked a Kokanee, it was like, "Oh, you got me." And, I reeled it through the ice. 

They report the Arctic Char are more like, "Oh, no you DON'T." They drug out line and then got away. 

Can he bring Moby Dick through the ice? 

The one drawback I can see in a tent - is the lack of amazing Alaskan scenery photos. 

They came home and cleaned and filleted fish. I brined them. Michael smoked them for an hour or so. I canned them, and they are ready to go for "tuna salad" or such in the near future.

There is talk of going out again on Monday and trying for Arctic Char. I'll let you know.

"Christmas" Tea

Near the end of October, Donna and I met to discuss a Christmas tea. We decided on Dec 1st for the date. We wanted to bless the women and set about making goodies ourselves. Everything was coming together swimmingly, tables were ready, food was prepared, devo was ready,  and then.....Nov 30th happened. 7.0 quake. Donna's charming home was filled with glass. Many others were cleaning up as well.

We flexed. We decided the best thing to do would be to wait until after Christmas. We'd celebrate in January.

January 19th is a great day for a Christmas Tea. As I prayed about it, I felt we needed to be able to gather and simply be...together. The Big S - Socialization.  I scrapped any semblance of a program.  I enlisted Lindsey to help me with my list of food. Donna enlisted Jacque and Jennifer to help her.....it all came back together.

I never take Life Group photos - so I think I'll point out "lifers" who are in the photos.

Jacque, Jennifer and Donna (Jacque and Jenn are Lifers)

The Advance Crew 

Lovely vintage favor each woman took home...

Deceptively fancy - Donna is tricky! The plates and silver and disposable. 

Each table had this lovely selection 

My Mom's English teapot - pressed into service again. It made me smile. 

Daisy's first tea party! 

Such a well-behaved little gal. 

Nichole, Britney and Stacy

Brenda (Lifer), Lindsey (Lovely Pastor's wife), SiaKayle and Sandy

Judie, Mona (Lifers) and Bonnie

Jennifer, Jacque, Me, Nora, Judie and Mona

It was a lovely afternoon. It was wonderful to see women connecting and relaxing together. It takes more than a 7. quake to keep the ladies of Matanuska AG from gathering.

The Dead of Winter

The dead of winter is finally upon us. Is it the dark days? The frost inside the screen door?  The need to start ones care 10 minutes before jumping into it? The scraping of windshields with credit cards? The sub zero temps? 

No.

Tonight, at dinner, we ate the LAST Yukon Gold from our garden! It wasn't the biggest, but it was sweet and it was the very last. Alex had the honor.....

A glorious moment

We didn't grow many things well this year. Zucchinni and Yukon Gold's were the exceptions. I have lots of garden space. We've run out o potatoes early. We'll plant more next year.  These babies grew right in the midst of all the nasty chickweed. Why mess with peppers, tomatoes, and corn that won't grow???? 

We'll stick with the Yukon Golds and baby reds..... But, for now, I'm content to observe the garden plot under a thick blanket of snow...and the occasional moose, or two, or three, that arrogantly tromp across the plot.

I thought we had coyotes when I went to feed chickens yesterday. I heard a  howling....and every dog in the neighborhood answered back. It continued for as long as I was outside.  Michael thinks it was a wolf. I guess we don't have coyotes.