I'm starting to believe in good weather

It's been an amazingly beautiful spring here, crazy warm, madly sunny and just plain "unseasonable" I love it. The wee garden is growing in size as well as in greenness, the sproutlings are moving right along and geez, I feel all green thumby! Which of course means I haven't been beading much at all...I think I've decided good weather trumps the bjp. Sorry bjp friends, but this sort of weather happens about never. Ok, maybe that's exaggerating...about once a decade. AND, I'm lucky enough to be in one of the most beautiful towns in Alaska this spring.
This is the indoor outdoor thermometer by my kitchen sink...99 is the temperature it registered right outside my back door. Ok, the spot is totally sheltered and sun reflects off of two walls, but still!
This is parsley. I have been informed by someone who knows everything that I shouldn't have been able to sprout it in such a short time, and that it's really really hard to grow. Mmm, don't tell the sprout that it shouldn't be there, k? It's surrounded by seaweed...our little coastal secret to gardening miracles. ...the magic parsely came up before I got the seaweed, btw.
This is the original raised bed with all store bought soil and compost, there are peas along the left side and broccoli down the middle, carrots on the far end and leafy stuff (spinach, kale and lettuce) along the right side. The plastic on the left drapes over the hoops at night. The buckets on the top right have potatoes in them...wonder if they're gonna sprout.
Here is the original bed on the left and the latest bed on the right. The rocks between? (oh my aching back) came from the new bed. There were more of them, but I put the biggest ones in the chicken wire baskets that make up the fence posts for the compost pile. Holy crap, I think the rock to soil ratio was 3:1...yeah 3 rock to 1 soil. I mixed the native soil with the closest thing to decent store bought soil that is available here today...miracle grow brand "organic natural". I read the ingredients and it sounds ok...but I don't really trust Miracle Grow not to alter dirt in some nasty way. The True Value (dirt store) didn't have the Whitney Farms dirt... we'll see if I grow frighteningly huge plants in the new bed.
Here's the over view...old bed has the hoops, new bed is in front, potatoes in the buckets next to old bed, blue rubber maid tub is full of seaweed, the crossed hoops are over the pea patch and the shabby green box with nothing showing has cabbage and spinach sprouts in it. Oh geez, what if all this stuff actually grows??

spindly crop devastated by fanged predator

News Flash: the sprouts were attacked by a beastly beast! The cat ate ALL of the spinach sprouts and about half the carrot sprouts. All of the sturdy little spinach babies were devoured by the fanged feline! She started to eat the peas, but I think they taste bad...good thing they're poisonous too. Damn cat.




The peas planted in paper pots are positively plantastic. Plentiful and pretty too. I've put a few out in the raised bed to see if it's time...not everyone is out there in case it's too early. The rest of the gang is on a field trip to get a dose of reality. Other people call it hardening off, but I prefer to think of it as teaching the sprouts about life. Although...life here in the not that far north has been so NICE. Sunny and warm. Layers shed, winter skin exposed.



Now that the snow bank between my yard and the neighbors is mostly gone, their dear doggies were back to their fun habit of using my yard as a toilet. Since the ground is still frozen about 6 inches down, I had to figure out alternative fence posts. Being 'blessed' with rocks, I built these things, sort of cairn posts. I know I've seen them other places, I'm sure they have real names...but I bet most gardeners don't call it a spindly crop either.

The morning I found a puddle of dog pee on my raised bed, I knew I had to get that fence up! Now some of the spindlies are getting a serious dose of reality out there, but the plastic will protect them at night. The buckets have potatoes in them, hoping for a spud crop...plants want to grow right? Some of this will produce edibles and make it all worth while.

dabbling in politics

There are some great political blogs in Alaska like Mudflats, and The Immoral Minority but I can't resist a little dabbling.

As you may know our Governor is a bit flamboyant with her aspirations to national office. When (if) she's at work in Juneau, she's usually not cooperating with the legislature. Recently Juneau's Senator Elton left for a job with the Obama administration, leaving the city with out a 2nd voice in the Senate. After much todo, at the very end of the session, Mrs. Palin accepted former Juneau Mayor Dennis as the replacement. After she had tried to force the legislators to accept her two (barely democrat) choices and after they'd tried to force her to accept Beth Kertula... now children stop fighting. This is Mrs. Palin's second defeat at the hands of the legislature in as many weeks, they voted down her choice of W.A. Ross as Attorney General too. Thank goodness. I honestly believe that one step at a time Alaska is moving in to the 20th century. Maybe in another 100 years the 21st.

little plants in paper pots

The peas are growing so fast! I transferred them to paper pots so they have a little more room until I can get them outside. The broccoli that was shooting up so fast is long and leggy but the peas have serious roots that need more space.

Yesterday was warm and sunny in the afternoon, seriously raining in the morning. Rain coat for the dog walk, luxurious sun for repotting the peas. Perfect spring day.

I was out by the woodshed working on the little paper pots, filling them with dirt and pea plants when I remembered....new yarn shop in town! Opening night was yesterday and I was 1/2 an hour late already. Forget dinner, wash your hands and get going! See...that's the sort of thing that happens as the days get longer. Time slides away.

This is the current knitting project, a make it up as I go vest...or sweater if I feel like making sleeves. Now that I know that the owner of the new yarn store has a problem with sleeves, sort of like second sock syndrome, I may have to make this into a sweater. With an order in to Webs for Cascade 220 and a couple of balls of green worsted from the new store, I think I can afford to make sleeves.

I don't like the way the yellow on dark green row has that little hitch in it at the beginning of the rows, but I think I can straighten that out a bit when I tug at the ends to sew them in. Lots of ends to sew in, but different colors keep my gnat brain interested. ...and wondering why so many of the patterns in A. Starmore's "Charts for Color Knitting" are multiples of 8 and 12.

Happy Easter

T-shirts instead of eggs! I bought a 6 pack of white t-shirts at Costco when I was in town...lots of seriously white shirts that needed color. Not so sure about the bright yellow one at the bottom, but maybe I can handle some egg yolky color.

I also did some felt for later beading, but that's not as exciting as a bunch of hippie t-shirts dyed to hide stuff that always gets on the belly of a white shirt.

Bread maker is beeping, a loaf of pre-mixed Bob's 10 grain bread awaits. Hoping it's a decent sandwich bread although I forgot to get sandwich makings today. Tomorrow.

not ready yet!

I planted some seeds two days ago to sprout them indoors the prescribed 4 weeks before the final frost. I thought I was a little late. I mean, it's not getting below freezing that often any more and other folks started seeds a few weeks ago.

It's the broccoli and the spinach that are surprising me. The other side of the tray has some peas that are coming up too but I expect peas to grow quickly, they're like that.



Right next to that shed is where I want to put my little green house. I am not ready yet plants, and neither is the snow! Slow down.

home again home again jiggity jig

I got back day before yesterday on the (state ferry) Taku at about 10:30 at night. I'm done traveling for a while, it's a hell of a lot of money spent to be uncomfortable. Too many people, too much noise, too few moments above the survival level.

I took the ferry to Juneau, caught a plane to Seattle and another one to Vegas then did the same thing in reverse after taking some jewelry making classes there. I still hate that city and am developing a hate for air travel. Don't get me wrong, I love to fly over the land and sea in an airplane. I don't, however, love booger eating children and dehydrated germ laden air. The prices have gone up, the seats have gotten smaller and the whole experience more disturbing. On two of the 4 flying legs of my trip, I got to witness small boys fondling then devouring their own nasal extreta. What the hell parents?

The classes were good, I gained some confidence in using art clay silver and fine silver wire. I felt good about using a torch on the wire and think I'll try carving the clay. The instructor for my beginning class, and Cyn's advanced (carving) class in the art clay silver was Gordon Uyehara from Hawaii. He has a natural affinity for the clay that takes away the frantic 'panic, it's going to dry too fast' attitude and replaces it with calm. Carving the clay changes the whole picture from hurry up and mold it to one of almost all of the work is done when it's dry.

another human conned by the dog

Dog to vet: I'm just here for the drugs, don't try to be my friend. Oh! You have treats. (sit) *crunch crunch* So...what else have you got here? You don't have any really long thermometers do you? Oh! You have treats (sit) *crunch crunch*

Vet observes dog, dog observes vet. Dog sits in front of shelf with jar of treats. Dog looks at vet, looks at jar (ignores me because I don't own the jar). Vet laughs. Vet sits in chair next to treats on shelf. Dog glances at vet, looks at jar, looks at vet. Vet gives dog treat. Dog wins again.

I warned the vet that the dog is...well, her own royal self and humans are just tools with thumbs. We got the drugs, the dog got more treats then she deserved and the vet laughed a lot, it was a good (expensive) 20 minutes.

one day at a time

Day before yesterday it was a close encounter with a moose, yesterday it was a blizzard and today it was cold water coming out of the hot water tap. The moose was dissuaded by a tree, the driveway was mysteriously plowed and the water is getting hot. At least I hope the water is getting hot, I just put the element in a few minutes ago.

Pretty sure I'll be replacing the water heater this year, it's huge and I'm pretty the bottom element is completely corroded, maybe buried in sediment. I'd rather have a smaller more efficient heater...best of all would be an on demand unit, but balancing efficiency with cold water wasted before hot comes out the tap is tough.

A day off that involves plumbing is better than a day at work during a blizzard. The snow was about 2 feet deep after about 8 hours. There's a heli-skiing industry here that brings in extreme skiers and boarders to enjoy our wilderness. Well...they come to pass through our wilderness and if they can't do that they get bored and petulant. The snowstorm kept the helicopters grounded and the boys had no entertainment beyond going to the market. Bored jocks are so much fun! (insert sarcasm, please) I remember acting like that when I was about 12, annoying grocery store clerks by acting up in the aisles, messing with packaging and giggling behind my hand. yuck.

So...the drive home looked like a Subaru commercial with waves of snow flying off the car like a boats wake. The car gamely plowed through the drifts and up the hill to our street... where much to my wondering eyes should appear a nicely plowed road and driveway! What a lovely end to an unlovely day.

Kelly is...

Amazed at how Facebook takes over people's lives so quickly. Rice at Voodoo Cafe posted about the weirdness of constant status updates. I find myself clicking my way over to the collective for no known reason. My sister in law spends a lot of time collecting Groups that Matter there while my sister fights a massive FB war against California's prop. 8. I find myself caring (way too much) when someone I'm "friends" with "friends" someone I don't like. What the f-? How very jr. high of me. I'm going to try no to spend my days playing with my fake Facebook farm: my new sprung-ahead (hate daylight savings much?) resolution.

I'm going to Vegas (gods help me) again. It's cheap and easy...so that's where bead conventions are frequently held. This time I'm going to learn how to use PMC and how to make a couple of different kinds of rings. Metal working and precious metals clay manipulation are two of the things I"ve been wanting to learn about so I'll go to the city I hate the most to do it. (I hate LV because it's a windblown waste of water in the desert ) They sent the materials lists for the classes...

It's not a lot, but it's seriously dense and full of stuff TSA will not like so I get to take a checked bag. Might make that a checked box because my usual duffle bags won't stand the weight. I hate to put all my tools in a checked bag at the mercy of a trip with 2 legs and 2 airlines, but it's a risk I guess I have to take. I think I'll mail it back. The tool box on the right weighs about 10 pounds right now.

I hate my very white straight from Home Depot kitchen cupboards, so I've decided to paint up some canvases and stick them to the front of the doors. Usually I don't get all woo woo about what the Muse requests of me...but really, a house fly?


I got all excited about how lovely bugs are when I was doing the wings of the last BJP cuff, thinking I'd bead some beetles or something for the March cuff. Instead it came out as a cupboard painting of a fly. I don't pretend to understand...