Having my Seester here is great, but we find ourselves too busy most of the time and I forget to make my post.
Yesterday we went to Shabbat service, which was very nice to be able to bring her to meet my faith family. Well the ones she hadn’t already met anyways.
After sundown we went out to eat with Mo and had a fun time. Lots of stories and secrets were told.
I am so thankful to have moments like these. My Seester and my friend, and tacos.
It’s November!! Woo hoo. Winter is definitely here, a dusting of snow to welcome November’s arrival. It’s day one of my birth month. Gifts and adoration accepted daily, of course.
November also brings some of my favorite things. Pumpkin pies and cornbread dressing. Birthday cakes and ice cream. My Mom’s birthday too. And her anniversary, in no particular order. A surprise visit from my Seester!!! As well as an early Hanukkah. It will be a busy week starting with Thanksgiving, then birthdays and rolling right into the feast of dedication.
November is a huge birthday month in our realm. There’s the twins, Thing 1’s boyfriend’s birthday, MaKayla, Me & Mom’s and a few other friends and memorial days thrown in there.
Grandpa’s was the 21st and my dear friend Katherine’s was the 28th, both of blessed memory.
I like to think of November as a month of feel-good, like a warm sweater, sitting around a bonfire with a hot cocoa and all your loved ones kinda feel good.
Today has been one of those dreary winter days. Overcast, trying to rain, not cold enough to freeze during the day but wait until night fall.
There’s still so much to be done outside but the weather kept me inside today. I cleaned out the freezers and pulled out all the fish reserved to make more dog food for Panda.
Found a few surprises, but not Jimmy Hoffa. Thought we were out of moose summer sausage and Italian sausage and I found some if each! It’s the little things in life. We’ll be enjoying these this week.
All the dog food that I had canned up has finally ran out. We’ve got one jar of salmon left. Not too bad for experimenting with the idea. Panda loves it.
Sunday is our day to clean the chimney. Thing 2 takes the lead on this and the girls help with clean up and getting the fire going again.
I’m thankful for a productive day, for every one pitching in and getting things done. For warm fires burning. Team work makes the dream work.
Today was busy. BOW hunter education course with Thing 1 & Mo. We’ve been studying and preparing for two weeks now. There’s a lot of info to take in.
Study manual.
Thankfully we all passed the written and field test. Woo hoo.
My qualifying target. Shot pattern being the deciding factor.
These classes aren’t offered down here on the Kenai very often, usually in Anchorage. So not having to travel in winter is great!
The classes are hosted at Snowshoe Gun Club. They have a very nice facility. We had great instructors too.
It was nice to get a good refresher course, it’s been a minute since I took a hunter safety course. This one was more in depth than I remember. Experiencing the course with my girl was nice too. She did quite well and is a pretty dang good shot. Don’t mess with her.
I’m thankful for the opportunity to take the class, thanks to Mo for suggesting it. And grateful for the shared experience. Happy that I remembered far more than I forgot from all those years ago. Hunting and firearm safety is a lot like riding a bicycle, but it’s good having a refresher!
(BOW stands for Becoming an Outdoor Woman, it’s not an archery course)
I’m being lazy, not wanting to get out of my comfy bed. It’s nice and warm. I have a snuggly little boy who likes to climb into bed in the morning after his Dad gets up. And a spoiled puppy dog who snores, both cuddled up here with me. Moments like these are meant to be cherished as they won’t last forever. I’m very thankful for all of these blessings.
Panda Bear, as cute and good natured as she is, has one major flaw, she likes to roam. She comes by it naturally, her dad Kevin is infamous for his long Walk-Abouts and car rides to McDonald’s for ice cream with complete strangers. But that’s another story for another time.
She usually goes to one of three places: the neighbor’s house through the woods behind the sawmill because the ‘ol Captain has a playful Black Lab about her age and they like to get into mischief. Or she goes up to another neighbor’s house down the street who also has a dog that she plays with. But mostly she goes to Jake’s house.
Jake being her first hooman to know and love. One of two hoomans she gets so excited about that she pees a little. (Mo is the other!) Jake’s house being where her mom Sarah and brother Hank live. You see, Panda is just a social butterfly and has a lot of friends. She has places to go and doggos to see.
She either comes home in an hour or so or Jake calls to say, hey, are you missing something? Come get your dog. Or generally being a good sport, he brings her home.
But not so last night. Dean had her outside, as usual. He’s out there with her always, she doesn’t get to just be outside unsupervised. But as soon as you turn your back she is like Casper the Ghost. Quietly and quickly without notice she’s completely gone. Last night was just such an escape.
She was gone for 4 hours. Dean and the kids, and Jake too, we’re all out looking for her. The kids rode the wheelers around all over the neighborhood calling for her but she didn’t come home. I went looking for her on my way home from grocery shopping, stopping to talk to neighbors, with no luck. She was just gone. We were starting to get really concerned.
Then I get a call from a friend that she saw a post on Facebook with Panda in it, so she message me the info and I called and left a message. Then I rushed into to pull up the post and respond to it directly.
Lost Dog!
She was down the road a little bit farther and they had her inside. Before I could get ahold of them, Jake knew where they lived so he just went and picked her up. He’s such a softy when it comes to these critters. He brought her home and she’s both loved and welcomed home and scolded for running off. Giving us such a fright.
These four-legged friends sure do impact us. We’re happy she’s home but dang she sure is hard to break from running off exploring.
She’s lost her tag -again- with my number on it, which makes it harder to get her back. So once again I’ll try to get a replacement for her. Too bad they don’t make them big enough to print:
Hi, my name is Panda Bear, I’m on a walk-about, I like to meet new friends. I’ll go home so don’t put me inside. I’m happy with my home, I get fed and lots of attention, I’m just a free spirit, social butterfly. Nice to meet you. If you can call my hooman Mom and let her know where I’m at, that would be great.
The Life of Panda Bear
Even today, still another friend noticed the post and messaged me. Everyone loves Panda. Thanks to all of you good hoomans who help look out for, care for and return my doggo… Juni, Chris, Jake, Shelly & Skyler. ❤️
We’ve been busy this summer working and doing everything else so our woodshed is looking pretty empty. For the last two Sundays we’ve been felling beetle kill at an elder friend’s house. Both to keep her safe and fill our heating needs. It’s a win-win.
Everyone helps, in some way or another. But of course it’s the biggest and strongest who do most of the work.
The wood stacker
The felling feller
The red dot in the brush pile is the little guy staying out of harm’s way.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
We’ve dropped 7 trees at her place, with a couple more to go. Those beetles have been busy. That has given us with a full cord and a half. 5 more cord to go. It takes a lot to heat this big old house when it gets cold.
The biggest helper trying to avoid the camera. He’s cute when he’s not making scary faces
Alaska on my mind... 