I have spent three days repotting plants because I still can’t use my greenhouse and the outside garden. I had to go to the feed store to get more flats and pots. While I was at the Wagon Wheel, I bought some asparagus roots that look like they are about three years old. This is good, that means they will produce large enough sprigs that we can harvest. My old asparagus is one year old now and won’t be ready to harvest for another two years. I can wait that long! It’s one of my favorite vegetables. But that can’t go in until the geese and ducks are out of the greenhouse.
It looks like I am going to have to move more plants upstairs so I can make room for new vegetables I need to seed out. Otherwise, I’m not going to have kale and lettuce this summer. It must be done.
Excuse the mess. As you can see the plants have taken over the living room. Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower Brussels Sprouts, shallots, tomatoes and peppersBasil, dill, cilantro and lots of tomatoesTom Thumb tomatoesThree baskets of Tom Thumb tomatoesSaw this little one while driving back from Dan’s house.
It was wild Alaska the other morning when something attacked and ate my hen Dead Bird II. I didn’t name her, my friend’s children did before they gave her to me. It stuck. There is no sign of her little body. Just lots of feathers and a trail of blood and feathers to the road. I’m guessing it was a dog or a coyote. It’s so sad. My rooster has been looking for her since it happened. I will get him a new hen when I think its safe.
Well, I guess that about it. Going back to work to get the bathroom finished and move plants to my bedroom.
Dan came over to install my shower panels and I had to go to town to get Dad more potassium, bread, and a few extra grocery and hardware items that we needed. I tried to keep it down to two stores and trying to stay away from other people. I just walk the other way if someone was getting close to me. It makes it very difficult to grocery shop when you keep having to change directions to avoid other people. If I got boxed it, I’d hold my breath. I carried my Clorox wipes with me so I didn’t contaminate my personal items like my purse, wallet and sunglasses. Then, I have to wipe down my car keys, car handles, steering wheel, gear shift, emergency brake just to make me feel clean.
After making it back from the grocery store in one piece and mostly disinfected, I unloaded the car, got everything in the house and put away. At this point I am starving and I need to eat before I go on a hike with my friends. No worries, we stay more than 6 feet apart the whole time. I needed to get some fuel in this belly because we blocked out 2 hours for this hike. It starts at the top of our main road and goes straight up before cutting across another road to get to this awesome snow machine trail that goes into one of our mountains. During the summer, its swamp area and can be a deep and messy hike. It seems the best tine is now!
Panorama where we decided to stop and turn around on our hike
The hike started off on flat snow covered land until you start a slow incline of elevation into the spruce. That’s where it got interesting. Trail markers were great! Old t-shirts, a shot ski, lanterns, street signs and fake booze hanging from trees. We loved it. We got up to the base of the mountain and decided to turn around due to our time limit. Most of my friends have children and have only so much time to have adult time. Anyway, we turned around and headed back. Tiana was mentioning when we get back to the flats that we should keep our six feet apart and do cartwheels on the snow at the same time. I haven’t done a cartwheel in 20 years! And it shows.
Attempting the cartwheel Hurt my back attempting the cartwheelThen, I just collapsed because trying a cartwheel after 20 years can be deadly
It was all fun and games. I decided that my other two friends can do cartwheels and I’m just going to jump!
So we came up with this!Close up!
It was such a beautiful day! It was so sunny and warm! We totally needed this five mile hike! We also had a sun dog or halo around the sun.
Sun Dog/Halo
We didn’t notice this phenomenon until we were walking back. The only thing missing was our friend Jamie. Will definitely hike it again with her when she has her husband home to take care of the kids.
When I finally got home, Dan was just about finished with the shower and I needed to start dinner. The menu was Jalapeño Popper Meatloaf! It requires a whole 8 oz pack of cream cheese. Low and behold when I pulled it out of the fridge, half of it was eaten. I specifically bought it for this recipe. Two jalapeños, pack of cream cheese, a pound of ground meat, chopped bacon, onions, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Anyway, Dad ate half the cream cheese. So, I had to improvise and grab the ricotta cheese from Dan’s house and add that to the cream cheese, then spread on the bottom half of the meatloaf. I did and added bacon and the chopped jalapeños to the cheese. Then, I put the top part of the meatloaf to it and drizzle on some ketchup. Turns out ketchup is gluten free. Duh!
So, Dan finished the shower and it needed to dry. It will be ready to shower in as soon as Dad installs all the shower controls.
Well, I leave you with an awesome picture that Tiana took of her sister and I walking down the road towards home after our hike. Thank you Tiana for such a beautiful picture!
Friday, March 20, 2020 was my last day at work. My boss decided it was best since everything else was closing down. As a dog walker, I go into people’s homes to pick up their dog. This is potentially dangerous to everyone because we could spread this virus across our little town. So, we are doing our part to keep people safe.
I have lots to do around the house and will probably never get bored. I was reading an article about how Gen X’ers are probably the best for this whole quarantine thing we are going through. I have to admit. I am a Gen X’er and looking back at my childhood, I would have to agree with some of these articles. We were the latchkey children that came home from school and found our own snacks and did our homework alone. We listened to the radio waiting for our favorite songs to come on so we could record it and create awesome mixed tapes. I played out in the woods with friends and came home when the street light came on. I hung out in my room entertaining myself with games, music, and my imagination. There was no internet and we didn’t have cable. We also played Oregon Trail and learned from it. LOL! We are the generation of social distance. We got this! #socialdistancing #GenX It was like we’ve been training for this all our lives!
Courtesy of someone on Facebook
It’s snowing again! Just when you thought it was break up you get another 3-4 inches of snow. That’s okay. Soon spring will be here. I’m gonna have to upgrade some of my starts to bigger pots. This is a good thing. The longer we have to keep them growing and put some growth on them, the better they will produce and survive.
My herbs and tomatoes are ready for the next size up on pots. You slowly move them into bigger pots as they grow. It’s really fun and messy since I have to do it I’m my living room. So, that’s one job that will take pretty much all day. I have all my onion starts and begonias as well.
I now have the time to get my new bathroom finished. I’ve got a lot to do, but it will be fun! Dan is almost done with my beautiful vanity. He said he needs to do a little light sanding and then I can prime and paint it. I am so impressed and grateful. The vanity will install onto the corner of the wall so it only needs one leg. It’s going to have solid surface on top that will match the shower stall.
This will also give me time to sort out everything that I don’t want anymore. Out with the old and no more stuff!
Maybe I will have time to work on my quilt as well. I don’t think I will go stir crazy but I’m afraid by day five I will be drinking out of a wine bottle! HAHAHA! Maybe not.
I hope everyone stays safe and healthy and don’t get bored!
Weather is as unpredictable as usual. It warmed up and then it snowed, then it warmed up, and then it snowed and now its pretty chilly and sunny. The weather this week should be sunny and cool (highs in the 20s). Yesterday was warm around 33 or 34. It started to get really melty and difficult to drive in. I’m sure you read my Dad’s blog about his encounter with the water truck and him getting two vehicles stuck while I was at work.
Speaking of work. It was a challenge to walk through sticky, melty and mushy snow. The dogs really didn’t care, but I was walking around like I was a staggering drunk. The roads were melting and it was really really slushy in places. You kind of slide around and look like you are drunk driving. Then, the road starts crumbling into deep pothole filled with melting water. So now, you are dodging deep potholes and yet again you look like your driving drunk. If you can’t dodge them and you have to hit them you are only make the potholes worse. Good Times!
The ducks think it to be spring. They have started to lay eggs again and I have found myself with a surplus of duck eggs. I have made gathering eggs a game. Due to our below freezing temps in the morning, you have to get to the eggs before they freeze and then crack. Then they are no good.
This was Sunday morning and I haven’t gather eggs yet and I was just thinking to myself that the geese should start laying as well. So, after coffee and such I went out to the greenhouse to check out the situation. Low and behold, the waterfowl finally made a nest! The ducks just lay their eggs where ever they are standing up to this point. So, someone got organized and the rest have followed. I walk up to the nest of hay and start digging around. I find 3 duck eggs and guess what?!?!
You guessed it! Two goose eggs! YAY! I’m so excited! I’ve never had geese before and let alone goose eggs! I think I’m gonna try to make a custard out of them in celebration. I took some pics so you can see the difference in the size duck versus goose. Now, these geese are first time egg layers so the eggs should get bigger the more they lay.
GOOSE
DUCK
Today, I was in the store. There is no Toilet paper in the stores at all! It feels like this mass hysteria and people are prematurely panicking. Today at the local supermarket the paper toilet/paper towel isle looks like this.
All that’s left is crappy commercial TP that will eventually be bought out when the entire U.S. runs out of TP and we will no longer get shipments into our little town. It’s ridiculous. I’m not going to panic until I absolutely have too.
Courtesy of someone on Facebook
I searched Amazon for my favorite TP only to find the price gouging has started. So freaking ridiculous!
Worse case scenario when the toilet paper runs out, we can always install one of these!
Courtesy of someone on Facebook
Thursday was a pretty good day. The snow is slowly melting and hopefully break up is near. My geese are trying to destroy my car nibble by nibble. They have chewed the plug off to my block heater on Zippy and have proceeded to do damage to my front bumper by the fog light. They must be fenced in ASAP! Come on break up we need you!
Thursday night we had such an amazing sunset!
Friday was such a lovely day to work (walk dogs or more like hike). The sun was out it felt warm due to the sun reflecting off the snow. It has been so warm that I have started shedding my major winter gear for more lighter stuff. It went from Arctic Muck boots, to Keen winter boots and gaiters. Well, the gaiters were getting too hot and not letting my sweat leave my legs. I had to come up with a better solution. I needed something that would work like gaiters but would allow my legs to dry quickly.
It’s been getting so warm on my hikes that wearing fleece lined Carhartt pants were too warm. So, I have gone to Carhartt leggings which work just fine as long as I don’t have those sweaty gaiters on. Low and behold! LEG WARMERS!
Yes, people! I’m bringing them back as the number one winter accessory you need for post holing through snow! My legs stay dry and the synthetic material keeps the snow on the outside. I recommend leg warmers for those knee deep snow days. Besides, they’re cute! I’m pretty sure Dan thinks so too!
We found another leak in our water system, AGAIN! We found the leak, but have to survive without water for the rest of the weekend. Thanks Dan for the use of your shower, yet again! Monday we will have a water filled again. It really sucks, what a waste of money when the water just drains out all over the snow and under the water house. My duty for today is to shovel snow into the Homer buckets and melt it on the wood stove. Something to last us all weekend. It’s already Saturday so it shouldn’t be too much trouble to go one more day without.
Then, it’s time to start some spring cleaning. I really need to stop hoarding clothes and such that I’m never going to wear. I also wish I had time to try to finish my quilt. Maybe I will finish it by next winter. LOL
Okay. It’s time to be somebody and do some work around the stead! I leave you with cute pics of my dogs. So long readers and stay disinfected!
Friday was a great night. Dan made me gluten free pizza and it was awesome! Huge pepperoni, artichoke hearts, red bell peppers, parmesan and mozzarella cheese and pesto made a really yummy pizza! The company was great too! Thanks Dan for such a good pizza!
Saturday, I went to my friend Tiana’s house to split up seeds that we had ordered to begin our seeding out for our summer gardens. This was very exciting and funny. We were trying to figure out how to split them up equally. We tried a cup and a scale but it wasn’t working. It seems the grams were too light to register on the scale. So, we tried cutting the seeds with paper and a razor blade. It didn’t really work due to the seeds rolling all over the place, but it did make an amusing picture!
We ended up just eyeballing the seeds into ziplock bags. This proved to be the easiest way to divvy up the seeds. We were so excited to get our seeds and talk about upcoming spring that may or may not happen in April. Due to the fact we are getting unscheduled snow. The Weather Channel app proves to be wrong most of the time.
Like today, we weren’t supposed to have snow. This morning it was a zero chance of snow. It started snowing around 7:30 this morning and is still snowing right now. It’s almost 2pm.
Here’s a little video showing what a zero chance of snow looks like!
Meanwhile, my seeds have germinated and they are starting to look like starts!
These plants will take the longest to start and grow enough to be planted in the garden and greenhouse. Mid month I will start more seeds and then April I will start more seeds. We are going to hopefully have a ton of produce! I’m even going to try my green thumb on cold soil sweet corn! I can’t wait!
On the goose and duck front, I have finally identified the gander. I thought that I only had hens due to the fact I did loose one this past summer by a young bald eagle. But, no. They have reached maturity and the gander has shown his ugly temper. I have named him Lucifer. He attacks the drakes that are trying to mate with the duck hens and Lucifer doesn’t like it. He has killed on drake and damaged another. He is with Fabio the rooster and DBII (Dead Bird 2) in the boat house coop. I’m pretty sure he’s going to make it. Lucifer has also tried to attack Taco and the other dogs. He is much larger than my dogs.
Sunday, Lucifer tried to attack me. I had a long bird feeder in my hands and was able to pop him on the beak! He backed up and continued to hiss and honk at me. I have to go out there with the dogs to protect him. Now, one of our major spring jobs is going to be to fence in this evil beast with the rest of the flock. While we are fencing them in, we will be fencing in the garden area to prevent the moose and other toothy critters from eating the plants.
Dad has started lowering the house again and hopefully will be finished in another week or two. Then, we will be able to work on the inside and soon when the ground is soft we will be starting the addition that we tried to start last year. This will make the house much larger and flow so much better than it does now. I can’t wait to finish the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen. It will happen. I’m gonna be an optimist about it.
Well, that’s all I have to update you with. I leave you with a cute picture of Betsy and Taco.
The snow started on Thursday afternoon and continued through Saturday night. It’s now Sunday and the snow storm is over.
Friday the snow came down heavy. Dan and I named it “A Fluffy Gully Filler”, instead of a regular gully washer. We went to town for dinner at Alibi’s where we proceeded to enjoy shrimp tacos and chicken wings! There was blowing snow and limited visibility, but that doesn’t stop the full time residents here from enjoying life and eating out. Dinner was wonderful and we headed back to Fritz Creek.
The next morning, we woke up to deep snow drifts and buried vehicles. I decided that after coffee that it was time to go home only to find that my road was iffy and I can’t get into my driveway. The snow was almost above the hood of Zippy. Now, I talked about Zippy in my last post and how well she gets through snow. She wasn’t going to make it through the deep snow that was left from the storm.
I ended up backing out of my road, due to the fact that there was nowhere to turn around, and got back onto pavement. I drove to my nearest neighbor and asked if I can park at the end of their driveway so I could hike into my property and get to my house. Further investigation to the snow around me, I realized that there was damaged from the snow and potential damage as well. We needed to act fast. Unfortunately, that had to wait. Betsy my little Jack Russell had an ear infection and it was getting worse. It seems that dogs don’t show their symptoms until it’s too late. And so, I had to drive to town in the blizzard to get some medicine for Betsy. After treating her I found she had more issues. She has sores around her neck from her collar getting wet I suppose. She’s a mess. I’ve scrubbed her neck with betadine and I am trying to keep it dry. Worst case I will call my vet again and set up a visit. I know it will always look worse before it gets better, but dang!
Meanwhile, while I was in town we had a friend come by and plow our road and a place for me to park. It was very interesting. The plow truck got stuck and we spent more time trying to get the truck out than it took for the area to be plowed.
As you can see, we’ve created a goat trail for us to travel through.
A few pictures showing what I saw hiking into my property.
You can see the collapsed storage tent.
Dad and I got busy trying to save the other buildings. We needed to uncover the greenhouse and what’s left of our storage tents. The snow is deep, my friends! Talk about getting your cardio.
This video gives you a really good idea of what its like here. I am going to have to teach Dad how to make decent videos. He’s all over the place. lol
Well I guess I need to go back to work, the snow isn’t going to move itself.
I leave you with a pitiful picture of Betsy. Until next time! See ya!
Alaska or bust 