Fire and Ice

Okay, after that earthquake I shouldn't be surprised that one of the volcanoes is becoming active again! This is a picture from R. Clucas from the 1990 eruption of Mt. Redoubt. This is what we are possibly bracing for again. In 1989-1990, Mt. Redoubt erupted about 20 times from December through April. It steamed and lightly spewed for months afterward. I'm not sure what to think about all of this. We have to be prepared mostly for ashfall which can be extremely corrosive and abrasive to anything outdoors. Not only that, it can also be conductive, so electricity may be severly affected! While we have wood for our stove that will be able to keep us warm, the water that comes with electricity may be a factor as well as keeping our cold storage cold! Putting it outside to be covered in ash won't be an option! No one seems to worried about it up here, but it's in the back of our minds and we'll deal with it if it happens!

I Feel the Earth, Move, Under my Feet!

Yeah, we just had an earthquake. It's an odd feeling for those who don't grow up with it. Pat and I were sitting on the couch drinking our coffee when the house began to sway a little. It felt like someone was pushing the couch back and forth, on wheels. It was a relatively gentle sway! We looked at each other and Pat spoke the thought between us, "earthquake!" We looked up out our big windows and saw the trees swaying as well! It lasted about 10 seconds. It takes a few minutes to register on the websites, but we sent the USGS our responses. Come to find out, it was a 6.1 magnitude quake that was in the Cook Inlet, between Mt. Augustine and the Peninsula. Mom, you remember that? We saw it when it was spewing from Homer. Anyway, it was about 100 miles away and about 58 miles deep! Crazy Saturday morning! After that excitement, we are off to feed the puppies and watch KU play!

How cute am I?

Don't you love me anymore?!

Ugh

I have no picture for this entry. I guess I could take a picture of Pat's disgust, but instead I'll just tell you what happened. Yesterday, in light of our ridiculously warm weather which is causing the roads to melt and consequently ice, Pat came home early. It was a real surprise and treat for all of us at home! Pat came home to find me chipping away at the ice around the garage in an effort to create a trough for the mass of melting water that was flowing right under the garage doors, into the garage itself. We worked on several ditches to move the water away from the garage and house before we thought we'd take a puppy out to Pat's shop to let his boss see him. We had thawed a couple of T-bone steaks for lunch, so Pat got them all spiced up, turned the grill on to warm up and off we went. We left Bella in the house while we took 2 puppies and Rowdy to the shop. While the puppies were super sweet and tried their hardest to secure a home for themselves, Pat's boss has decided the timing just isn't right. We packed the pups up and came home. When we came in the house, Pat asked me where the steaks were. I looked at him with my "what?" look and said that I didn't know. His keen hunting skills were employed next as he carefully followed a minute blood trail that led him right to Bella's bed. There was very little evidence left that she had indeed jumped up and took both T-bones from the counter and took them to her spot and inhaled every bit, including the bones. She seemed quite happy with herself, and since we didn't catch her in the act, it was difficult to try and discipline her for it. We hoped that her stomach would do the work, but as we watched her the rest of the evening, it seemed that her tummy was just as happy. How annoying. I guess we learned our lesson.

Life outside of Puppies

Okay, this was the gift from Mom and Dad Teakell! Down Long Undies!

In one of our walk-about's we came home to a cow and calf behind the garage which made Rowdy very intrigued. I let him get a little closer since the cow seemed unaffected and I knew Rowdy can run pretty quickly!

This is actually after our warm-up! I finally felt like going outside for more than 2 minutes. It's been gloriously above zero for a couple days now and I'm loving it! It is actually snowing quite heavily right now, which will make me have to work even harder to keep up with Rowdy!

Dog Days of ...Winter

This is basically how we like to end our evenings! They are 4 weeks old today, and they have now had their first taste of puppy food! They have also had a drink of powdered milk to help a momma out! It seems that they instinctively know how to eat and drink out of a dish! They were surprisingly clean in their first endeavors. I also took the time this past week to give them all pedicures to help with those barbs on the ends of their paws. I can't say I've ever worked on a more compliant bunch!

New Years Puppies (yes, again!)

We still try to give Rowdy and Bella some attention, but those babies of theirs are so fun to cuddle with! They are starting to cut teeth and have become quite playful which will become more painful as the teeth grow out!

Here's just a couple rejects from the 30+ pictures I took for our most recent flyer. As evidenced by the photo below, the chocolates seem to be the most vocal and the first to do everything!

Here's a little clip of how loud and feisty the pups are becoming.