Geocaching FUN!

Well just let me say that this is FUN, FUN, FUN!!! No matter where you look you will find folks telling you its time to get active. Well if you have kids this can be a real challenge I know. Especially if they are young and rambunctious. Try Geo Caching it is a fun activity, free to do and simple to participate. You can have loads of fun making a cache to hide. A cache can contain all kinds of things from magnets, pens, lures, compasses, rings,  lapel pins, thimbles, hats just use your imagination. They can also be themed like, batman themed cache with all batman stuff. You get the idea. The object is to get the coordinates of a cache find it, sign the book in the cache and then go online and log your visit. Most caches require you leave something and take something and some of the objects are traceable online and you can watch their travel around the world by tracking the objects number. The website is geocaching.com and its free to join and if you have a GPS or a smart phone which allows you to use the geocaching application or compass your set to play. You will need a GPS to locate the treasures or caches. So go check out the website.Give it a try.

A Week Of Forty Below

Wow, its still forty below, I think to myself as I log on to double check what my yard thermometer is telling me. You would think that after all these cold winters I have under my belt that one more wouldn't be a problem but I spend a lot of time thinking about what I could be doing if we lived in a warmer local where I could grow food year round. I sometimes dream of those unreachable things all Alaskan gardeners must dream about. You know things like fruit trees, I could really go for some fresh pears, apples and oranges. I read at the co operative extension service has grafted an apple tree onto the roots of some sort of cranberry bush. So far these precious graft-lings have survived in a cold tunnel which protects them from high wind and snow.We have had extreme cold as you know to 60 below and their survival is promising. I have planted a crop of tomatoes this winter as I just cant wait until spring. I expect to be eating fresh tomato sandwiches by my birthday in March.

Forty Below

Alaska has dipped into her first cold spell of the winter season. Minus 40 has been the temp for a few days now and we have broken several cold day records this week here in the interior. The animals have been coming around our little cabin on the river. Today coyote was trolling the river bank looking for food, a cross fox and a silver fox have been frequenting the scrap pile we have seen them a few times and they are really looking fat and sassy. The bald eagle flew south towards Haines last week just before the cold weather arrived. The White Rabbit still is alive and kicking out there, which is good we didn't know if a tame bunny would make it. He seems to do well eating the sunflower seeds we put out for the birds and I throw him a couple of carrots and grapes everyday which is devours. So I guess life in the Alaska wilderness is going fine just chugging along. I got myself a treadmill for this winter and have been walking everyday. The weight loss has been wonderful for me and I am feeling spry..Should have bought one years ago. Happy Thanksgiving !

Our Eagles

Here is Jr eagle who had just caught the fish he is standing on and mama eagle who let Jr have about half of the salmon and then took the rest from him. She is a huge eagle! Jr. is now 4 years old.

Alone at Last?

 Could it be? Is our little cabin on the river that has been bursting at the seams with 8 folks 3 of them little ones, finally going to be just dad and I? Our quaint little cabin has been packed through the events in family life that sometimes you can't do anything about but protect your kids, or give them a leg up. I am not complaining at all, its has been wonderful every single day. Maybe a lot of projects were put on hold, but they were replaced by sweet little faces and warm hugs!
Today the daughter and her 3 girls made their move to a new apartment. I pray for her it isn't easy raising a large family alone.
Son and his girlfriend are moving out next week and starting college YEAH SON!  I hope it doesn't sound mean but I am already planning a total interior makeover. I will be making a big move on organizing and lightening the load of stuff that has magically appeared here and no one seems to know who's it is or where it came from. Believe me I will not have any problem donating it to someone else. I'm going to paint the wood floor cranberry zing, and buy some of those oval old fashioned braided rugs and a round table or two. Finally I will get the new appliances and the wing back chairs I have dreamed of for decades. Life is good. I see flowers popping up everywhere and I smell a wind of good fortune coming my way!! 

Getting Old

Woke up coughing, mentally I was thanking my 21 year old son for bringing home another virus from his work! Argh! I hate being sick! The older I get the more stuff goes wrong, first its the aching muscles, then the joints, the spine, the shingles(virus that causes chicken pox) arthritis and asthma. Wow really. WTF? I am not quite 50 and falling apart here. Time to get serious and fight back before my hubby gets to live the life I always wanted on my insurance money!

R.I.P. Chicken

 

It is with  a heavy heart that I impart to you the fact that the afore mentioned birdy has well went to Birdy heaven thanks to the Great Horned Owl  pictured above.

First Day of School

Miss Gabbie on her first day of kindergarten.

There was much excitement about the cabin this morning as  Gabbie and her mom ran about like two chickens looking for everything they needed to get miss Gabbie out the door for her first day of school.

One Crazy Chicken

If you have read my blog at all you will know that chicks were purchased with the dreams of one day eating some eggs we in a round about way GREW. Well the best plans of mice and men and women I guess. Here is the rest of the story.

I got the chicks and brought them home with the best of hopes. All was going well on the sunny little farm and we were all enjoying watching the chickens grow and hoped they would soon be as fat as the dogs. Well much to my dismay the dogs decided to eat the chickens. They have never killed before and I was in tears when I came outside that afternoon to find the chicks dead, dogs with feathers in their mouths and shaking with the thrill of killing.
 OH, I worried about what my precious granddaughter would think. After much worrying and talking with others we decided that our loved hounds would have to be put down and our hearts were broken. The deed done, and hearts sad we were trying to get back on track and my grand baby was playing outside. Grandma, grandpa she screamed.. come out here I hear  a chick she squealed. My hubby went out only to comfort the child he thought the chicks had all bit the dust. However to papa's surprise one little yellow chick had not only survived the dogs but two days outside alone as well. What a little survivor the chick was. Well now she is a little red hen, we call her Birdy and I am afraid she does not know she is a chicken. We are however hoping she will at least give us an egg one day soon.

July

Well here it is in the heat of July, my potatoes are growing well and my one little laying hen hasn't. There were 10 chicks in the beginning but thanks to some very bad dogs, well lets just say I am down to one chicken who has no clue that's what she is. Poor thing.
My best layed plans for a garden were stomped out by arthritis I hate it. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy if I had one. My poor body hurts so much of the time I cant even go shopping without much pain.
Then when I make it home I am pretty much laid up for a couple of days.

We have been getting stuff done though. The new lawn is in and about 1/2 acre in size. We've already mowed it a couple of times. The siding has been removed from the house and tyvek that wonderful invention now snugly wraps the little cabin.

Bunny rabbits enjoy the new lawn and so do the folks who come by on their way down river.
More later.

Adventures with Grandchild

My grandbaby has a wonderful imagination.  We were at a quarry for a cook out the other day and she was crawling around on the large rocks. We had a great time and collected a couple of small rocks and leaves to put in our memory books.  This is one of those pictures. In this one she is a snow leopard. She loves all animals no matter how ugly no matter how many legs or eyes she is just in love with all of them. She is very entertaining I love to listen to her share her wealth of animal wisdom!

Swans, Cranes, Ducks and Geese

They are back! A pair of swans flew over a couple of days ago and yesterday I saw my first flock of ducks. When you live here in Alaska that is a sure sign of the coming summer, one that is never wrong. The wildlife is not fooled by the weather, they know when to arrive. I laugh because every year around this time I see in the paper that spring is holding on and we can expect a late break up. Yet every year the fowl arrive right on time and so does break up. Break up is a time of pot holes, and wellie boots, each day you wonder outside to see what has thawed out of the snow, be it grass or some bit of trash you have to pick up. Day by day and inch by inch the snow withers and soon the grass and flowers are once again growing. Soon the bugs are out and rushing to complete their hurried life cycles. Like myself who will be bustling to get my garden going, with my head net as a crown.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

They are so easy and so good everyone will love them. I was first given them in elementary school and they are just as good today.

In a sauce pan,  melt one stick of butter and 1 cup of sugar add 1 bag of white and one bag of semi sweet chocolate chips  and 1 cup peanut butter, heat until melted well. Turn off heat add 3 or 4 cups quick oats and cover with lid and let sit for 3 min, this allows the oats to suck up some moisture. Then quickly using an ice cream scoop make cookies let cool and they will become firm.

The NENANA ICE CLASSIC

IT is that time of year again in the quaint little village of Nenana, Alaska. The Nenana Ice Classic official clock has been connected to the watch tower and now mother nature is the final judge in the last Game of its kind. Started in Alaska's Territory Days back in 1917 when the boys of the Alaska Railroad rolled into town to what was then the end of the highway and the railway. The 5 year project was to build what would then be the longest single span railroad bridge in the United States over the raging Tanana River and finally connect the interior city of Fairbanks to the much needed flow of goods provided by the Alaska Railroad.  With the rail connection the interior of Alaska was officially open for business and started to boom.
The first Ice Classic was held in a rather unofficial way in 1917, when a group of Railroad Engineers met at Mike's, a local drinking establishment. They bet on when the ice of the Tanana River would go out, heralding the arrival of summer in the small town of Nenana. From then until today the prize has grown considerably now winners receive a prize of around 300,000 dollars by guessing the day, hour and minute that the famous black and white Tripod makes its way down river, breaking the official clock cord. Tickets are on sale until April 5th and the river usually makes an exit late April to early May.
Nenana Ice Classic

God's Greatest Gift

Grand kids..they are a gift! We are having a visit from three of our ten grand kids right now and I can tell you these three little ladies are little entertainers. We wake in the morning bright and early for coffee and before you know it out pitter patters one of the little twins. Papa, Meemaw they call down the hall. I know they have been laying in their bed quietly listening for a sound from our room. Knowing that when they do they can come on down the hall for a happy good morning hug and a little song. They cozy up with us in our chairs and sleepily blink at the morning news show and wake up with us.
The cutest little brown eyes look up at us in wonder of everything we do, from making dinner to writing my blog. Little voices ask curiously, what ya doing? We play games like office and restaurant and put on little plays like Little Miss Muffet and The Old Woman in the Shoe. They are our Little Women and we encourage open thought and creativity. This summer we are building Western Town for our  sweeties. It will be complete with a sheriff's office, saloon (which serves root beer) a theatre to put on plays, a general store and a livery stable/ petting zoo. One tepees and Indian encampment one trampoline and a large wooden fort and swing set. This is Alaska so it will all be fenced in for protection of the kids and too keep them away from that old river. There has been much talk about this all winter and the little one's are almost as excited as the big folks who will be building it.
Funny what a grandparent will do for their babies isn't it? I can see them playing there already and I cant wait to join in.

Ernie Evan.wmv

Here is our uncle Ernie Evan.

Fire in Nenana

Here is a picture from a fire in our town tonight. It was pretty exciting, nothing much happens here so there were a lot of looky loo's. Looks like the building is pretty much a loss.

We heard it on the scanner and went to check it out. No one was hurt.

Radiation Realities

The front page of the Fairbanks Paper, (the Frontiersman you can read it at http://www.frontiersman.com/) had a rather scary headline yesterday. It was all about the terrible earthquake in Japan and the resulting nuclear plant damage. I know all the people of the world are watching close as the truth about the dangers of nuclear power are revealed. But when the paper runs a story about the possibilities of the people of Alaska may need to take Iodine pills in the event the radioactive cloud comes our way is a bit unsettling. I wonder if anyone in the lower 48 that is living near a Nuclear power plant realizes that once things go this wrong that people are pretty much helpless. Japan in all their glory were the worlds leader in Nuclear technologies and although they are sitting on the ring of fire and certainly no strangers to earthquakes they still thought that nuclear power was a good option. I have heard from time to time on the news that they expect the east coast of the United States to have a really big earthquake this century, and I have to ask myself if they are ready? Was BP ready for their disaster---No. Are the Nuclear plants--NO. They make it clear on the news that the levels of radiation are to dangerous for people to go near....so in the event of a major earthquake WHO is going to be able to fix these problems? Whoever they are they are going to die soon there after if not in the event itself. The 50 employees of the Japanese Power plant are being viewed as hero's and maybe they are in some respects. Maybe they are victims too. Victims of greed, money and big business. Just like the folks who suffer because of the BP spill. They knew it  was dangerous and they KNOW the oil is still out there in the ocean floating around the east coast of the US but as long as there is a dollar to be made from it ..nobody cares. How do you get around this stuff, in your head and heart? Don't invest in BP for one and don't buy their products. Do all you can to stop the creation of more Nuclear power plants whether its just signing a petition or starting one. Do what you can. If you can only PRAY then do that. We must work together to save our Earth from destruction, keep our children safe and our food safe. I'm not an activist in any way, but I do love our Earth Mother.

Welcome Spring

Well you can see it in the faces of the nice folks here in Nenana. (Neenana) Spring is on her way at last. There are smiles worn now where frowns once lived and there is a certain twinkle in the eye and sudden bursts of laughter the folks you run into on the street or at the local grocery store"Coghill's". Yes the sleeping bears are stirring in there dens and the spruce hens are practicing up on their courtship tunes. The odd rabbit is now wearing a coat of brown and white instead of the snowy white and the snow has begun to melt. See how chipper we get here with only a few days so far that have been a little above 30. Its hard to keep us down here in Nenana we will get excited about almost anything just give us the excuse. I love the folks here in our little burg, they are survivors. They somehow get through the most dreadful winters and still can manage a smile when spring finally decides to visit us again... This is the time to take a deep breath and get ready for the summer full of hard work that is coming. I have ordered my seeds, bulbs and have made some calls to ensure that I will get my baby goats this spring. All is in order and we are champing at the bit to start. HOORAY for Spring!

Lose It

Seems it is the time of year when all my friends and I are on a diet. All the long winter we have steadily packed on a little pudge and now in the time of recently forgotten New Years resolutions we are faced with the truth. Our clothes are too tight, we have low energy and maybe even a bit of a grumpy attitude. Who can blame us, all we accomplished this cold winter was to catch up on all the movies we couldn't afford to go to at the theatre and a caffeine addiction that I might need to get treatment for. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy all those tasty pots of bean coffee or the romantic movies like Eat, Pray, Love but now it is time to awake again and the first step is going to be losing a bit of weight. It always makes you feel better and maybe if you re lucky you will look better too.
I want to tell you about this really wonderful website that I found and just can not say enough about. http://www.loseit.com  this website will help you get on a caloric regimen and stick to it. I will also help you track your exercise and the calories you are burning along the way. It is totally free to use and you can get some friends to help you and in turn you can encourage each other along the way. The site will award you for good dieting behavior and it just makes dieting more hands on by providing you with the information you really need to make good nutritional choices. No matter the food, no matter the exercise they will have you covered. So don't wait go check them out today and get yourself ready for spring.