It's that time of year again. There's snow creeping (running!) down the sides of the mountains and the leaves are falling. The last cruise ship cancelled their docking due to bad weather in the gulf, they were trapped in Seward by a storm. The local news has a running tally of moose harvested in the fall hunt. 12 with one illegal animal killed and unceremoniously dumped in the Fish and Game parking lot.

...and it's time to switch from summer beading to fall/winter felt birdies! The new model is fatter and shorter than the last years bird. The blue dude above is a last year bird, I haven't taken a picture of one of the more stout version.

It's been raining like mad, land sliding and rivers flooding type rain. The garden went from zucchini over load imminent to rot and mold in less than a week. I hope it turns to snow before November because dark and rain is just not nice. To put it mildly.

drive to the rest of Alaska

Happy Duck (seen early spring in Haines at the annual Norman Hughes Birthday Bash/Aloha Party)


Happy Duck and I took a little trip to Anchorage this past week. That involves a drive through Canada, but first a duck needs some clothes. So I knitted him a little sweater. Happy Duck became sweater duck with a little sock yarn and some careful tailoring. Wee little wings and a big belly.



First thing is making it to the summit of the pass... Sweater Duck is posing by the lower right side of the sign, glad to be wearing his new gear.


It's summer so there's a lot of construction on the way to the rest of Alaska, we stopped to wait for pilot cars at least twice, maybe 3 times.

The 3rd time, I drew the picture for a little variety...I'll find that and add it in, sort of like the new pie picture down below in the other post.

Baking a pie, want some?

The cherry tree is dripping with cherries, birds are gleefully eating all the fruit and the nosy neighbors are again suggesting bears will come attack the tree. They're warning me about a bear that was in the neighborhood 4 years ago...
It's a pie cherry tree but some of them are pick off the tree and eat them sweet! So... of course I decided rather than bead a necklace I'd make my first cherry pie with my first real (not mom's hippy cheater recipe) pie crust.

I've been buying and swapping and collecting cookbooks lately, bread books and classic books and crock pot books and healthy books and potluck books. This town is mad for potlucks. I looked in all the logical places including the pies and tarts book for a recipe for fresh cherry pie filling. Yeah, I know it's that easy... but you'd think the beginner book would at least mention how to make really easy cherry pie filling. Nope. Internets.



Cherry picking helper was way more useful than the multiple pretty pictures cookbooks. Nothing like a cat that doesn't mind the rain.





edited to add the pie, long gone now but oh so delicious! After the road trip (above) the birds had eaten most of the cherries so this pie is a one-off for 2011.

summmmmer

That's a sweet pea flower in one part of the garden... I'm thinking the whole "mixed" package is pink unless pink blooms before all the others. Oh well, I like pink. pink pink pink.

The 3rd cord of wood is languishing in the driveway... it's hot out! Look at that thermometer, I mean really it's all the way above ... ok, so it's not nearly as dreadfully hot as all that. Nothing like what they're suffering in the midwest and the way east. It's only approaching 80 in really sheltered areas like right in front of my woodshed. BUT. I can't stack wood above 60 degrees, it's in my contract.
That is pure compost geekery! I stuck my meat thermometer in the pile... nearly 150 degrees of composting goodness. I have been getting coffee grounds and lettuce from the job (see below) that I am probably going to quit soon. Is it wrong to keep a job for the composts' sake? (yes)

Got wood, got jobs, got summer... need more time? I think I need to quit the secondary job so I have time to paint the house (again, some more) make art for the fall fairs, make beadwork for Extreme Dreams (even though they're charging a higher consignment rate this year) and most importantly so I don't work with those bitchy girlz any more.

took a dive out of crow pose today

Oh wait, Yoga Journal calls it a crane, not a crow. Either way I saved my forehead by landing on my knee... I haven't gone to yoga class for months and today was a Marnie Day. She teaches a fairly tough flow style class. Meaning you don't get time to rest if you don't want to...and it was good. Exactly what I needed except for the near face plant.

I've been slightly off my game lately between the really long daylight hours (sleep is weird) and the 'extra' job that involves loud talking 20 somethings with lotsa dra-ma in their lives. ...and the lack of regular art or exercise.

I got out the paints this week and did some yoga today. nod.

Spring business

Counting tree rings is pretty cool, this thing is half the diameter of a stump my friend Norm cut down. It's huggable in size, I can lift it to carry it back out to the wood shed... it's over 400 years old! Some decades were good and there are easily counted rings about 1/8 of an inch apart, some eras weren't so good and they're all packed together. This baby was alive when Q.E. I died!

This wasn't as fun. The dog was growing another tumor on her face (sqeam warning) I sent this photo to the vet in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada and a week later drove about 6 hours to camp a night then drop her off for the day for an exam and surgery. 750 bucks later the big icky lumps are gone! I wanted to take her to a real vet so she didn't have to be under anesthesia for too long, she's 15 and has had many other surgeries..didn't want to risk complications from being put under. It was a long and tiring trip, but she's lookin' pretty good with her new Elvis sneer. They had to take part of her lip off to get the big icky bump.
What else is going on... No beading or knitting for a while, I'm working two jobs and it's summer gardening time. There's a flock of tomato plants on the front porch ...
Living in a sort of a greenhouse made of salvaged windows. The one behind the two red pots slides open so the can can get in and out. Very handy because I can leave the door open and the dog won't amble away. This is an old picture they're all about 4x this size and looking lovely. The big one on the right has flowers and a couple of wee green toms too!

birds of spring

Junco for the watershed council's birding contest... He looks better in person. I don't think I like doing realistic birds, but these are the first ones. Can't really put a party hat on a 'real' bird.


Felt birds for the watershed council's birding contest. The one on the left is supposed to be a robin but he looks pretty damn silly to me.
One of the 'renters' of the old bird house. I made a second house but so far no one has moved in, but they seem to like this old faded house well enough.

see there's a reason for being gone

Another cuff! I haven't done one that's not an all seed beads all the time picture so I did a cab cuff. Kind of fun. I needed to do something different and need to keep the cuff inventory growing. May first is the gallery opening, I'd like to have my case looking good for opening day!

moving right along

Whoohoo! Beading like a fiend...almost said "beading up a storm" but have too many weather issues to say that! (old boat habits die hard) Another cuff for the gallery, now there are 3 so I am feeling almost 'ahead' in that area. Need to put the thumbs on some mittens before it gets so warm the customer doesn't need them next.

black birds cuff

Getting more stuff ready for next summer in the gallery. I've been working on the cabs and haven't done any cuffs! When I went to my "beaded shit" folder to get this picture I discovered most of my cuffs from last year were made in early March...must be a good time of year for beads!