I’m just so happy my Seester is here!!
#grateful #thankful #blessed
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.
I hope your November is just as good. 💖
#birthdays #november #family #friends #feelgood
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.
#thankful #blessed #grateful
Warm gear is essential when building outside in the winter. Some days even double layers beneath your insulated outerwear is essential. Without the insulated gear life is utterly miserable and those work days drag on.
My old Carhartts have seen better days. I’ve been wearing them for five years now I think. They were gifted to me by my friends Sam & Vanessa. They were a real blessing at the time and I’ve been grateful for their warmth.
I’ve patched them and tried to keep them serviceable for a couple of winters now. But the time has come that they need to be retired. These can become spares for the cabin.
I’ve been looking for a good used pair at the thrift stores for some time now to no avail. Even then a pair will be about $40 used. Heavens knows I don’t want to pay Freddy’s price of $200 for a pair! Today when we went for lunch at the local hardware store… Yes, you read that right… They were having a storewide sale and low and behold their insulated gear was included. And they had women’s wear and not just men’s!!
So for a little more than twice thrift price I have a brand new pair of insulated bibs, (that fit right & are long enough) to keep me toasty while working in the snow. I’m so excited! Lots of pockets & a hammer loop too! Woo hoo!
Plus we had a great grilled panini and homemade soup at the Old Goat Cafe.
Triple blessed.
#thankful #blessed #nikiskihardware #alaskalife #womanswork
Jake called me Friday morning and offered us some tickets to the Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers (FOAST) fundraiser concert that evening. What a surprise!
So Dean & I hurried around after work and Thing 1’s drivers Ed class, and made a date of it. Went to Louie’s for dinner, oh so good. We haven’t done that in forever! And then headed to the concert.
I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about this band. I couldn’t even recall one song that they had, they were a little before my time. Lol
The opener was a comedian and he was pretty funny. It was nice to be out in public, in a mixed crowd, laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Then the band came on stage. First few songs I don’t think I’d ever heard before but then they started playing songs that were familiar. Turns out I did know some of their songs I just didn’t realize that’s who sang them. Indian Reservation for one.
They did a few covers that were well done and very familiar, like “One” and “Devil in a Blue Dress”. There was a lot of singing along by all ages. It was pretty cool to experience that. All in all it was a nice little outing and we enjoyed it. Thanks Jake!
#AST #aklife #laugh #sing #paulreversraiders #goldenoldies #concert
This one near Cooper Landing.
Felt more than a 3.5 to me. I expect a slight upgrade on this one.
#earthquake #aklife #shakerattleroll
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.
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. ❤️
It’s too warm to stick but it was really coming down this morning.
Alaska on my mind... 