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Funny River Fire

An abandoned camp fire turned into this:

The smoke cloud as seen from the north side of Kenai.

The smoke cloud as seen from the north side of Kenai.

The fire started on Monday, Tuesday morning (when this photo was taken) the fire had grown to 2,500 acres. By Tuesday afternoon the fire was estimated at between 6,000 and 7,000 acres.

Taken near Soldotna, Tuesday afternoon.

Taken near Soldotna, Tuesday afternoon.

By Tuesday night the fire had grown to 20,000 acres. It reached Tustemena Lake yesterday and started burning around the lake moving more westerly then east.

We really need some rain. Today the wind direction changed and blew that huge ash cloud over the top of Soldotna clear up to Anchorage even. We worked outside in a eerie overcast and ash fall.

This fire is near Soldotna but burning south and so far hasn’t been a threat to structures or humans. Some folks near Kasilof are getting nervous and voluntarily evacuating. Evacuation procedures are being given to Funny River residents in the event of a change in direction of the fire but no evacuation has been ordered at this point.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Wishing all Mothers everywhere a special day, but an extra special one to my Mother.

Mom and Roscoe

Mom and Roscoe

My Mom and her tiny terrorist dog, taken a few years ago back when Roscoe was sorta cute…

I FELT THAT ONE!

There’s nothing like a 5.5 to wake you up early on Sabbath… 6:16 am. Initially it was recorded as a 5.8 but those scientists always have to downgrade things.

We were in Ninilchik at a friend’s cabin and so were pretty close to the epicenter. It was a moving experience, not scary at all.

 

Dad’s Cabin: Work-In-Progress

During March and April we spent three weekends going back and forth to the cabin, when we could actually drive a vehicle out! We spent lots of time working on the outhouse and have very little left to do. We added bats to finish out the front and sides, only have about 3 more to add to the back (we ran out!). We also put shingles on the roof and insulated the inside roof and walls. It is nice a cozy inside!

Adding bats to the door.

Adding bats to the door.

I think Dad would be pleased!

The last weekend out we started sanding on the cabin. The kids helped and actually did most of the sanding.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 sanding the logs.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 sanding the logs.

Then together we put a coat of sealer on. Wow, what a difference!

A fresh coat of sealer!

A fresh coat of sealer!

Dad had started the front of the cabin so we only have to finish the gable end on the front, then the rest. One side down, the second side started sanding (we started putting sealer on the porch/sunroom part) and then the back-end to do.

And for our valiant efforts (mostly on the kid’s part) we had some awesome pizza for supper!

Homemade pizza!

Homemade pizza!

 

May the Fourth…

Be with you.

 

Corny Star Wars joke. Hope you enjoyed that!

Today makes 11 months, one more to go until that big one year mark!

Had a quick overnight trip to our friend’s cabin at Ninilchik. The weather was gorgeous. Took some pix of the awesome sunset.

May sunset beyond the trees.

May sunset beyond the trees.

Almost gone, but still beautiful.

Almost gone, but still beautiful.

Indian Tacos

Seeing this picture circulate on Facebook made me hungry…

Included with the photo was a recipe for making this scrumptious looking dish, which included a wheat based fry bread. So I decided to try something made with cornmeal for more of an authentic south of the border flavor (not sure where this concoction originated to be honest).

I found this recipe for fried cornmeal bread which I tried out for my wheat-free version. It was okay, needs a bit of tweaking, but everyone loved them! A nice change of pace from Taco Salad!

 

Rugs

Many a year ago I made my Dad a crocheted rag rug. I thought it was pretty awful, I told him to put it in the outhouse!  Fast forward to last year and I found that same rug in the sauna, he still had it and it was still in one piece!

So back to today, I have all of these clothes out at the cabin that are well-worn by Dad. Not really worth giving away and besides, I’m such a sentimental sap I would rather keep them. So I decided to make a rug out of his sweatshirts, he had so many of them!

Three sweatshirts worth braided and stitched together, working on the next set of three now.

Three sweatshirts worth braided and stitched together, working on the next set of three now.

I love the look of a braided rug. And this one is so thick and comfy to stand on! The only drawback is that they take a long time to create. I’ve got several hours and trips out to the cabin invested in this rug already and I’m only half done at this point.

I decided that I didn’t want to wait for a rug and opted for a woven rag rug made from T-shirts like this one that Dad has had for 20 years or so…

A blast from the past!

A blast from the past!

And I made a simple loom from a piece of plywood I found out in the shed and some paneling nails…

My simple loom, laying out a pattern with T-shirt loops.

My simple loom, laying out a pattern with T-shirt loops.

Then I went to work wrapping and weaving, and in about 3 hours time I was ready to finish the ends….

Crocheting the edge of the rag rug.

Crocheting the edge of the rag rug.

And then I had a finished rug for my little kitchen floor!

All done! 6 T-shirts worth in this rag rug.

All done! 6 T-shirts worth in this rag rug.

Now if I can just get my braided rug finished….

 

Remembrance

I wanted to do something special to mark the one year anniversary of Dad’s death. Going out to the cabin seemed like the most appropriate but with my schedule this week I couldn’t make that work. So I planned a cook-out at Captain Cook Discovery Picnic area. We had a fire and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. The sky was clear, just a bit hazy across the inlet. The tide was coming in.

Reflections

Reflections

The kids got to play and roam around exploring. We took quite a few pictures!munchkins

We enjoyed a fire, a hot meal cooked over an open flame, and then for the grown-ups, an extra special treat:

Rhubarb wine

Rhubarb wine

Jake gave us a special gift, a bottle of Dad’s rhubarb wine. Dad had spent time showing Jake how to make his famous wine and Jake still had a few bottles, so he gave us one. It was the perfect toast!

A very fizzy rhubarb wine!

A very fizzy rhubarb wine!

The sunset was beautiful. A perfect ending.

"Life has to end, she said. Love doesn't." ~Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet In Heaven

“Life has to end, she said. Love doesn’t.”
~Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet In Heaven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last of the “Firsts”?

Over the past year I have had several new “first” experiences… Father’s Day. Dad’s first birthday after his death. My first birthday. The first Thanksgiving… so on and so forth. I thought to myself the other day, wow, a whole year has passed, the “last” first is coming up. But will it truly be the  last first? I doubt it. I am sure my life has other new and exciting experiences to offer me, things that I would surely have shared with Dad, if he were still here to hear about them, or participate in them.

I am sure this wont be the last “first”… but it is a momentous one.

The one year anniversary of Dad’s death.

Remembering the man that we loved… and always will.

 

Photo credit: Tim Stringer

Photo credit: Tim Stringer

 

 

The wreath that the kids and I put together. Little Bit helped me mostly.

The wreath that the kids and I put together. Little Bit helped me mostly.

The little flag is a memo book so if anyone stops by, they can leave a few words if they would like. Dad’s picture  is in the frame Little Bit painted for him. The pewter star is about Grandfathers.

The cabin door and wreath.

The cabin door and wreath.

Watch the video tribute from Dad’s memorial last April: CNW Memorial

And for a good laugh, here’s Dad singing karaoke: Chuck Sings

 

What we’ve been up to…

Working on finishing Dad’s “two-seater” outhouse. Adding corner trim and bats…

Adding corner trim.

Adding corner trim.

Next we needed to cut out the second door, put in the Plexiglas windows and add sealer.

The other side, still have to finish the center partition.

The other side, still have to finish the center partition.

 

All trimmed out.

All trimmed out.

We all helped to paint on one coat of sealer, next time we will finish the back side trim, add a hand washing station and another coat of sealer. Notice we even have a light! That is for those extra dark nights, so three little kids wont be scared of “bares” out thare! 😉