Memorial Weekend/Anniversary Canoe Trip

We took our annual trip in this year and went on a trek to Camp Island Lake. We shared our trip this year with Bella. She did very well considering it was her first trip. She only needed a couple firm corrections and behaved like an angel afterwards!

It began to rain in the above picture, and by the time we made it to Camp Island, it was coming in waves. Pat made us a shelter and a fire which we enjoyed with a nap! After a rest, we braved the wind and rain to head back. Fortunately, it got better instead of worse, so we were thankful. We ended up going the entire way out on Saturday, in part so we wouldn't have to sleep with a wet dog in the tent!

Built!

Pat finished my greenhouse today, so I promptly began the transport of all the plants in our "dining room" to the greenhouse! I have been working them outside little by little so tonight is their first night out all night!

Not only do I have places to put my plants, I also have a bench to work on, a spare shelf, and a guard dog to protect it all!

Can We Build It?!!!

YES WE CAN!
(homage to my nephew Toby!)

Up goes my new greenhouse made from the remnants of our lower deck! This project was done on a whim and should be finished by tonight or tomorrow night! (Notice the decreasing ice in the lake, which on Sunday completely disappeared!)

Woodchuck

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Bella doesn't know!

Working Hard! (Or Hardly Working?)

Apparently, he actually does work when he goes away! Thanks to his safety man, we have proof! I guess it was 10*F with 20+ mph winds that made it feel like -14*F. I won't complain about our weather again! Thanks, Mr. Schults!

Love

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,...For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?"

Who are you actively loving today? Are you loving people who are confused by it? Can you get past their "sinful nature" to love the people God created? If not, are you better with your own sinful nature? Is your love conditional? These are questions that I've been asking myself lately. Do they know we are Christians by our love? From what I've heard, "they" don't. Yet! It all starts with love. I seem to not be able to find when we can stop loving or when we are excused from loving someone. Hmmmm. Tough sometimes!

Just a glimpse into my heart lately.

Guerrilla Gardening!

guerrillagardening.org I love this! I think we should all participate! What a lovely thing to do. Perhaps it could be done in a forgotten place at a nursing home, church yard, day-care center, etc. Serious Flower Power!

Perhaps not...

Spring is Coming!

The first dandelion leaf is visible! That is one weed that will truly grow anywhere!
Here you can see the ground beginning to show! I'm so excited!

I thought we weren't in Kansas anymore. The wind began to take our "garage" away last night. Lest I start to believe Spring is really here, it also began to snow a bit this morning. Fortunately, the temps are above freezing so it shouldn't stick. This is when y'all can brag about your weather. We are also having serious haze that keeps the mountains from being very visible. The haze is from China & Russia from wind storms in the Gobi Desert, industrial smog, & wild fires. Crazy! Apparently, every spring we collect a vast amount of the world's pollution (yes, even your smog & fire debris make it up here Californians!).

Fabulous Fuel?

The way I figure it, we must have some of the most pristine, high-end, amazing fuel to have it cost this much. This station is one we use that is less than 2 miles from our house and about 2 miles, or less, from the Tesoro refinery from which it receives its fuel. How fortunate we are to have such perfect fuel!

April Showers?

I didn't think it was the snow showers that brought the May flowers...
Still, it was beautiful! I just hope it melts fast. We were just beginning to see the ground in places. Ah, well. This IS Alaska!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Pat can now have his wife back since her Jayhawks have won the National Championship!

Sawin' on

Pat continues to find wood to cut. Saw 0n, my love, saw on.

Wood for...

We've been blessed with an abundance of wood to cut and a free Stihl chainsaw from a friend! Pat has been having lots of fun sawing down the trees and then splitting it with his new heavy wood-splitter! Bella just likes to be in sight of one of us!

CROSSFIRE

Pat has transformed the upstairs "barbie" room into his Crossfire office. He is currently reloading as I type! I think it's his new favorite place to be.

Aerosmith playing in the background...

Heckipotter!

For those non-Penner's, that's what Marc used to call Helicopters! Ahhh, cute!
This is how Pat came home last week.

These are the bright survival suits are called "float coats" since they are used primarily to find bodies if there happens to be a crash. Unfortunately for Pat, the chopper rides are rather anticlimactic compared to the small Cessna planes used to cross the inlet.

Ridin' along in my automobile....

This was a before/after shot of the tile work I did for a couple weeks! Tile-scraping is not fun.

Bella's Box

Pat had a little helper while putting together Bella's floor plan!

I think she already likes it!

It began on the ground level, but since heat rises and the cold weather just sank into her box, Pat revised the plan and put it up a couple feet. She now has this nice rise to her box that keeps her nice and cozy!

Made for each other!

Text Update!

Okay, I'll try to keep up with a picture-less entry. Pat's been out on the King Salmon Platform for a week now, and hopefully will be home this weekend. In the meantime, I've started working at Trinity Greenhouse. I am absolutely loving it! It is so nice to be surrounded by growing plants and thawed soil. It smells so good! In fact, the other day a gal came in and literally sniffed up the soil. Later she did have to blow it back out! My legs, back, and neck are getting back into the swing of work, but not painlessly. I miss my husband's back rubs. I have been trying to give Bella all the attention she needs, but I fear I'm not quite up to par. For anyone who thought our dogs would become our "kids," fear not. I have to clean up far too much hair to get too attached. All that said, she has been doing well. In fact, she just told me she needs to go outside...okay, I'm back. She needed to do her bedtime ritual, and now is in her house under our house! I tried to upload pictures, and it timed-out, so "maybe on another day!" Fortunately, the weather is unusually mild, so my hair didn't freeze while we were outside. In fact, it's been raining lately, and with all the snow-pack, it's making it very slippery. I'm breaking out my kramp-ons - removable cleats for the shoes. I had to borrow a set from by boss today while transporting newly potted roses to another greenhouse. I'm already picking one out to put on the deck. I'm trying to keep a reign on myself for all the potential gardening I could do. I'm not one to go bonkers on yard work, so my plans are actually to diminish the maintenance on the yard by letting about half of it go back to it's natural state. I don't want to mow that much! My biggest temptations will be trees. I have so many that I'd love to try, but I have a limit to my landscaping budget! I have a sneaky suspicion that my budget will be swallowed by a certain garage that has yet to be built. Oh well. I'll be happy that Pat has a place to do his hobbies that is out of the house that I have to clean. I think he will be, too! I have to put in a plug for my sister-in-law, Lesli, as she gave me a tip for quick clean ups with the swiffer-vac. I finally got one, though I had to wait til a friend of mine could pick it up for me in Anchorage. Well worth the wait. It is working fabulously, and it makes me happy! On that note, it is past my bedtime, and I dearly need my rest. Sorry for the lack of photo's. Someday...!

I know, I know. It takes forever! Here's a couple pics of the "Before."

AFTER!

Pat did all the hard painting up high, and I tried to help with the low areas. The big windows had really cheap, poorly installed trim, so we painted it all the same color as the walls. The walls in the kitchen are a deep red, and we actually painted the ceilings a light cream in an effort to eliminate white. Pat painted the beams a dark chocolate color that I carried down through the banister, rails, & stairs. The white stairs were quite the eye-sore! In fact, the entire house feels so much fresher and cleaner. It's also a bit warmer, though we are chilly enough to begin pursuing the installation of a wood stove! Our furniture arrangement is still being worked out, but we hope to have a new couch & chair to fit it perfectly, once we get it ordered. Maybe. As you can see, Bella seems to be adjusting quite well. That is her spot. We pulled out the old rug to help hold her shedding hair in one place so I can clean it up. We are also hoping that high end feed will cut that shedding down to a minimum. It's just so dry here. My cracking hands can attest to that! Maybe next month I can get photos of Bella's home beneath our home!

Hour's worth of uploading!

Here's what we've been up to in the last few weeks. Pat has been a painting dynamo up on tall ladders, making me nervous! He also surprised me by making curtain rods/brackets and hanging them up in the bedroom to finish off our redo! A few more of Pat's art pieces to hang and it will be finished!

Fun in the Snow!

Exercise? Really? Why, when I can get him to take me on a ride?