It's a big state

I just got back from the other part of Alaska...the part where you have to drive about 800 miles, go through 2 Canadian provinces and cross two borders to get there. It's well worth the effort in my opinion, the trees are bigger, the weather milder and the people friendlier. Southeast Alaska is where it's at for me, and I'm hoping to be a home owner there in a relatively short while.

This is the second time I've made the journey this summer, love that Subaru wagon! It can be a tedious drive at times especially when you're weaving around miles of frost heaves*, but the scenery is heart-breakingly spectacular. (hmph, blogger spell check doesn't believe me) The part that always gets me is the stretch between Haines Junction (Canada) and Haines Alaska... miles and miles of mountains rising up out of the tundra. Or maybe it's just that the road in that area is smoother and there's less construction.

There were lots of bicycles on the road, most of them headed into Canada on the southbound journey. Some of them were going solo, nothing like being alone with your thoughts for miles and miles of 'middle of nowhere'. I can't imagine what my brain would come up with after a few dozen hours of peddling slowly across Canada. I did see a bear run across the road behind one of the bicyclists...he didn't even know it was there until I told him.

*a frost heave is when the ground under the road freezes and expands then thaws and collapses causing the road to subside. The road becomes like a roller coaster if the heaves go cross ways, but sometimes they go long ways parallel to the road...

slowly it grows

One of the photos of an Orange Roughy showed the fins and tail all battered up like the fish was old or had had a tough battle with the fishermen. Kind of weird to combine that beat up fish with a flower. Hmmm.
Here's a little fish progress, the rays on the tail are done and the body poppy is started. It's always interesting to look at a project on screen. It gives me another perspective and a better idea of how the colors are working.

look ahead, not behind

Yesterday was my birthday and it was...well, not so good.

The goddesses (gods could never be so wicked) of a)middle age b) hormones c)coworkers d) siblings gathered 'round and giggled as the weather goddess made it dark in the morning and brilliant at about 10 pm. I railed, I ranted, I cried...the dog sighed and mumbled "now what?". C'mon what sort of 45th birthday is it when the ONLY gift you get from family is shit shaped soap? Oh yes, amusing moose turd soap. Thank goodness one of the goddesses gathered 'round was Hormona, and she's wandered off for a while today.

Being 45 is not only one of those (trumpets blare) landmark birthdays, but it's also an age of wisdom... so today it's good bread and tasty cheese and better than yesterday.

Dear Mom, I wish I'd had more of my current knowledge while you were alive, I miss you.

happy father's day

I got an e-card from my good friend Sara D. wishing all of us who've lost our Dads a Happy Father's Day. My dad and I weren't terribly close when I was a kid, but I got to know him better as he aged, especially after Mom died. He was a pretty damn cool guy. He didn't finish college and part of his youth was used up by WWII and chronic asthma, but he continued to learn and grow right up until the end of his life. He was an electrician at the Boston Shipyard during WWII because he was unfit for duty. He used his shipyard i.d. number for a password on his computer... I miss him so much. Happy Father's Day, Dad. Thanks for all you taught me.

lumpy bumpy down in the dumpy

Any one know where the title comes from?

It's been a fairly crappy week here in fish world. The weather is blah, there's a pouting competition at work and the dog's allergies are ramping up for the summer. Weather explains itself.

Work on the other hand... There are many bosses at my job that-doesn't-pay-a-lot-but-has-a-good-discount. One of the middle management people has various and sundry illnesses including fibromyalgia and feels better in the early morning so that's when she prefers to work. There was an abrupt and unexpected meeting Monday so the two BIG bosses could declare that no one can work before 8:30 am....anger and hurt ensued. Then the 2nd layer boss starts pouting because the middle manager (anger and hurt) won't perk up in response to a "how are you". The layers of pouting are spreading... oh fer gawds sake! Let middle manager work when she's able, she kicks arse when she works in the early morning!

signed one of the peons.

a little progress

A close up of the first poppy and the beginnings of the 2nd one. I outlined the tail one after I filled it in. Totally losing momentum...maybe publishing a couple of pictures will keep me moving along. Doing some of the easier stuff like filling in fins will help too.

I figured out what the Koreans are drying on the tarps! ( I know you care) It's fiddle head fern stems. I have no idea where they're collecting so many, it's not that wet around here.

fish with flower?

The orange roughy has a flower. In real life the orange is more visible, but the photo helps me know I need more contrast. Lucky for me, flowers are all sorts of variable. I've started the 2nd flower using a more linear technique so there's a good chance flower one will be sacrificed to the anal retentive part of the gnat brain.

...for those of you my in imaginary vast and intelligent audience that are better adjusted, "gnat brain" is that which keeps me from doing one task for more than a few minutes. I'm pretty sure it's what real people refer to as attention deficit blah blah blah, and most beaders refer to as 'oooh look sparklies".

Oh by the way, I watch way too much t.v. I admit it. I can blame it on living in small town Alaska before cable. Here in the vast north we have state wide t.v. that feeds random t.v. (some of it eduational) to the far reaches of nowhere. Most of us have cable or satellite now but...(gnat brain, come back!) Annny way the point is on t.v. right now is "Jon and Kate plus 8" on TLC. I am so not a kid person, but this couple blows me away. They have 8 kids courtesy of fertility treatments...and they have a reality t.v. crew in their house. The woman is seriously picky and the guy is pretty laid back, they are honest and they are doing a dang good job of raising this horde that is nearly a baseball team. (like I said I watch too much t.v!)

meme (what's that mean?)

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Hmmm...let's see. Living in Seattle on an old wooden boat, working at The Weaving Works and getting ready to sail up the coast to Alaska with "him".

2. 5 Things on today's to do list:

bead on the orange poppyfish
hike with the dog
vacuum
recycle
laundry
(will I do these things? suuure)

3. 3 Snacks that I enjoy:

sharp cheese on crackers
craisins and almonds
smoked salmon

4. Things I'd do if I were a billionaire:

Get a little house on big land so I can have more pets and a garden
Pay off the debts of random friends
Help out that clinic in the poor neighborhood that is trying to figure out how to provide lots of health care for very little money
Give a bunch to Beans Cafe to feed the ever expanding list of needy folks.

5. Places I've lived:

Juneau AK
Glacier Bay AK
Seattle WA
San Diego CA
Ocean Shores WA
Sointula BC Canada
Homer AK
Anchorage AK
Various Tour Boats
Deep with in my head

6. Jobs I've had:
Repaired books for the state library
observed humpback whales
deckhand on various tour boats
mate/captain on those same boats
deliver mail for the state of AK
retail clerk a couple of different times
sold flights to see bears in AK
...and much much more!

7. Folks I want to know more about...

Those Koreans doing that gardening (but I don't think they'll write in their blogs about this)
My brother's wife (but I don't think she has a blog)
(yes I know I'm supposed to pass this on like a chain letter, but now you know something more about me)
That guy I saw running on the bike path last Sunday...ooh maybe I'll walk the dog there today!

gardeners

In this apartment complex there are lots of older Korean folks, first generation immigrants that don't speak much English. People that have seen more hunger and poverty than most Americans ever will. They start their gardens as soon as the ground thaws up against the buildings and under plastic sheeting.

Walking this morning, I was trying to figure out how to describe the gardens in this day of "locavore" and "victory garden" chic. Their gardens aren't politically correct...there's a lot of trash from last season, piles of old pvc tubes and plastic that used to be green houses as well as old buckets, carpet scraps and furniture. They use plastic bags from the grocery as cloches or to tie the rag tag green houses together then let them blow away in the wind when that job is done.

They also gather food plants we consider weeds...dandelions parts drying on tarps. Where do they store them, what do they make with them.

orange roughy restart

All felt all the time. It looks better, it feels better and I just like it better.

The felt is a rayon felt blend that's sold by the yard in most big fabric shops, not that acrylic shit that comes in the 8x12 pieces in the craft area. I dye it in zip lock bags using procion dyes from Dharma Trading

I searched for California poppy pictures last night, they're pretty simple flowers but it's going to be an orange-a-thon.