Gearing Up

Gearing up for a big 3-day hiking/camping trip this weekend:

1. Tent – set it up in the craft room to make sure all the pieces & parts are there, and that we know how it’s done properly.

2. Sleeping bag/pad - inflate the pads to make sure there are no holes. Lay out the bags to air out and clean up a bit.

3. Food – lay everything out to make sure we have all meals accounted for, including snacks and drinks.

4. Bear Protection – confirm that all smelly items fit into the proper canisters. Make sure everybody knows how to use the pepper spray. Make sure the gun has bullets and that each person knows how to use it.

5. Bug repellant – make sure the aerosol spray can actually works, and that we have a lotion-type back up, just in case.

6. Boots – ensure boots are still in good order and that they still fit, then clean off old mud and apply new water-proofing.

7. Packs – make sure all gear & clothing fits comfortably in our packs. Distribute weight proportionately between the two of us.

8. Clothing – choose light weight clothing with just enough insulation, bare minimum amount of personal gear, warmth without too much bulk

9. PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) – designate a family member as Emergency Contact, ensure the DeLorme inReach unit works properly and notifications are sent to the proper person.

10. Lodging – make reservations for small cabin just outside of Homer for the night before our hike, so we can start off fresh and well rested.

11. Water Taxi – make reservations for the water taxi to take us across the bay to Halibut Cove, and then pick us up again two days later.

12. Electronics – ensure that all electronics are charged up and that extra batteries are included (kindle, phones, cameras, GPS & PLB, etc…)

13. Kittens – make sure babysitter knows what to do, where food is, and how much they get. Make sure their water fountain is clean and full of fresh water. Make sure litter box is full and clean, with paper bags for scooped poop.

Have I missed anything? 

Why yes, yes I did forget something.

14. Toiletries – medications, first aid kit, toothbrush & paste, TP & trowel, etc…

Noel’s Artwork

A couple months ago Noel asked me to make some artwork for her salon; she’s remodeling her Waxing Room with a Beach Theme. It’s taken me a while, but I finally got them done!

This first one I did is basically just a flat collage of paper-cuttings. I got a pack of coordinating papers from Graphic 45, cut out some pieces that she and I chose based on her plan for the room, and then glued them all down. The frame is a simple shiny black (by request) and the whole thing measures a foot square. I like it – but more importantly, so does Noel.

the first one 

This second one was considerably harder. It’s more of a Shadow-Box type of thing, with a lot of depth to it. Again I used coordinating paper by Graphic 45, but also some real shells and “netting” to make it a bit more interesting. My favorite embellishment, however, are the crabs! Can you see them? I found those at my favorite on-line crafting store called A Cherry On Top, but I bet you could find them pretty much anyplace that sells stickers by Jolees.

the second one 

It took some creative fumbling at first, but I eventually got it looking the way I imagined it. All in all, I had so much fun with these I might just make some to sell – who knows!

Birthday Crab!

For my birthday this year, Bryan got me a 10-pound box of King Crab Legs from Catch 49, a company who “provides delicious high-quality wild seafood responsibly-harvested by Alaska's small boat fishermen” - sort of like a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) but for seafood. When you buy from Catch 49, you’re buying direct from an Alaskan Fisherman.

Last night around 6:00 we cooked up about half of it, and then sat down and proceeded to feast on legs & claws. Oh my gosh: it was so good! I had forgotten how painful it can be, though. King Crabs have sharp, pointy little spines all up and down their legs: each time you try to crack one open, it’s trying to crack YOU open as well. Given that they are a salt-water animal, an open wound on your hand can give quite the sting. But there’s no stopping! You power through the pain and just keep on eating.

the remains of our dinner!

Dip that meat in a mixture of melted butter and lemon and pop that baby in your mouth. There truly is nothing better.

Except maybe chocolate cake.

Maybe.

I'm Finally Me Again!

Finally, I’m starting to feel more like myself again. Boy, that migraine was a brutal one! But it seems to be over now, so I can get on with my life. There’s quite a bit going on right now, too.

First: Bryan has a dental appointment today. Normally that’s not exactly a note-worthy event. But for Bryan, who is deathly afraid of dental work, it’s a huge issue. He has to be sedated for it, which means I get the joy of driving him home when he’s drugged out of his gourde. I’ve done it now three times already. The first time, he made a few nonsensical announcements (once he shouted “KLUNK! very loudly) but mostly just slept. The second time, he tried to dance in his cowboy boots on the way to the car, but again promptly fell asleep once he got sat down. The third time, it took a good half hour to wake him up once I got us home. I thought I’d have to leave him in the garage for the night almost! He’s too heavy for me to carry. I’ll let you know how this fourth time goes.

Second: Mother is having a fence built on our new property to separate us from our neighbors out back. At first, I was not too happy about that; I thought the back yard was just fine the way it is. But now that I’ve seen the fence posts – which got installed a few days ago so they could cure in their bed of concrete – and have a better idea of how it will look, I’m thinking maybe it won’t be so bad. The final pieces of the fence are being installed today, so by the time I get home it should all be done. There was a brief moment of upset this morning, however, when Mother thought that Bryan’s truck was left in the way of the fence company’s access to our back yard. We had already left for work in my car, so she was not able to move it. A few phone calls between her and Bryan, and apparently all is well after all.

Third: plans for my Catio are coming along nicely! I’m so excited to have one finally, and I’m sure that Viktor & Naldo will love it. Right now, when Mother wants the cats outside, she has to put them in these tiny 3-foot square cages. They do well enough out there in them, but it will be nice to give them room to jump and play – plus they can come and go at their own pleasure. Bryan has researched all the different ways to build catios, and is finally ready to jump in and begin. He’s even blocked off the weekend for the task!

Fourth: I traded my old kindle in for a new one. Amazon sent out an email telling me about their trade-in program where I could get a percentage off the new one based on the condition of the old one. My old one was in good condition still, so I ended up with about $67.00 off my new one! I was so excited when it finally came (I had to send the old one in first, so was without for a good month); I quickly loaded my books onto it and started to read. And it promptly lost its charge over night! That should NOT have happened, but it was easily cured by simply charging it back up. THEN – for some bizarre reason, it lost all my books! I have no idea why – and now am gun-shy about it, only loading two or three books at a time in case it decides to dump them all again. I have organized my “cloud” storage such that I can easily tell which books are to be read –vs- which ones are done, but it’s still a hassle – and I can’t help but wonder why I gave up a perfectly good kindle for this new one that doesn’t even work.

Today is not a good day.

To be honest, however, neither was yesterday. This darned migraine just will not ease up.

I’m so exhausted my eyeballs hurt, my brain is trying to wade through waist-deep molasses, and what little math skills I had the day before are completely gone.

On the plus side, however, I get to nap with my Viktor and play fishy with my Naldo. That is always a good thing!

And once I feel better, I can start in on my stack of new books to read: Bryan gave me four of them!

One Good Dog, by Susan Wilson

Women Talking, by Miriam Toews

The Binding, by Bridget Collins

The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, by Andrea Wulf

That last one will be a tough read because it’s like reading a comic book – which I am not particularly fond of. But the subject matter is totally fascinating, so I’m hoping it will be okay.

Which one do I read first?

Hello Again! I'm Back...

I’ve been meaning to revive this blog for quite some time now; my birthday just seemed like a good day to begin. Not that I have all that much to say at first – but at the very least, this will get me going.

But first: a brief update on my life.

I moved back to Palmer finally! It only took me - what, 25 years or so? Let me tell you, it feels great. I love being back home where my family is and where I can “drop by” anytime I feel like it. The house we’re in is actually Mother’s new house; Bryan and I moved in with her. The plan is to save up for our own property while at the same time helping her out with things. It’s a win-win for both of us!

We’re still working in Anchorage, however, which means commuting each day. It’s not ideal, by any means, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Bryan and I work very close by each other, so we are able to carpool. Eventually, my goal is to quit and get a job in Palmer – and Bryan will somehow magically convince his employer that he can work for home, maybe going in to the office just one or two days a week.

My house in Anchorage is rented out to 3 young people. They’re paying their rent on time and seem to be good renters. I will keep that going until we buy a place, then will sell to use the equity to pay down on the new place. Or maybe I keep on renting it to generate a monthly income. Who knows…

Thing and Djuna both passed away a few years ago; Djuna from kidney failure and Thing from cancer. I saved up my money and got myself two kittens from Arkansas (there just are not any Devon breeders up here to buy locally from) so now am happily sharing my home with Viktor and Naldo, brother and sister. They are the cutest kittens ever! I say kittens, but honestly their 2 years old now. I think that qualifies as at least Teenagers.

Mother has her cat as well; Bailey is a grumpy old guy who is quite overweight. It took some time integrating them all, but they seem to get along quite well now. Bailey seems to purposely seek the kittens out and will sit with his tail strategically placed so as to entice them in to playing with it so he can whop them a good one.