The following images were taken by Thing 2. He has had his own camera for about 7 months and has taken well over 2000 images. Here are a few that really show a different perspective, unedited.
First step.
Ladder
Closer
Matilda
Todd the Hound
A Silly Sister
The grass on a summer’s day…
and the sky.
Shadows.
Snowmobile
Stuffed eggs
Selfie
The Forget-Me-Not that marks where Papa’s ashes are buried.
We had a great time yesterday. Great food and wonderful memories were made. It was celebrated in the afterglow of my awesome birthday celebration. I don’t think I’ve ever been so spoiled in my entire life. I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which are these three:
Thanksgiving eve, getting ready for the big day tomorrow! Enjoying Mom’s birthday too!
Our table was spread with a buttered roasted turkey, mashed taters & gravy, maple glazed sweet taters, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, bacon and cornbread dressing and of course olives & pickles (Thanks Grandma for starting that tradition!) and local Alaskan wine. Pecan, pumpkin and apple pie finished off our over-stuffed meal. (and no, I didn’t get any pics, … I know, I know.)
I’m looking forward to left-overs for lunch today!
Happy day after Thanksgiving! Continue in the season of giving thanks!!
And for some fun…
After all, it is Movember!
What is Movember? Click here.
For the last 6 months I’ve been rediscovering country music. I used to listen to it waaay back in the early 90s, and of course growing up listening to Alabama which was my Mom’s favorite band. I have a few faves such as Keith Urban and Darius Rucker. Lately Luke Bryan has been getting my attention. I prefer his cross-over mix of country and hip-hop, if you can imagine that, in “My Kind of Night”! 😉
A couple of weeks ago I heard him perform his song “Drink a Beer” and the tears rolled. There aren’t as many of those “make me cry” moments as there were a few months ago, but this song really hit home. It brought that moment back, I didn’t hang up the phone, I just handed it over and I took a walk…
I can listen to it now without crying, which is good since it plays pretty often on the radio. It brings a smile to my face now as I can imagine all of my Dad’s buddies drinking a beer in remembrance of him.
When I got the news today
I didn’t know what to say.
So I just hung up the phone.I took a walk to clear my head,
This is where the walking lead
Can’t believe you’re really gone
I don’t feel like going homeSo I’m gonna sit right here
On the edge of this pier
Watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beerFunny how the good ones go
Too soon, but the good Lord knows
The reasons why, I guessFunny how the greater plan
Is too hard to understand
Right now it don’t make sense
I can’t make it all make senseSo I’m gonna sit right here
On the edge of this pier
Watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beerSo long my friend
Until we meet again
I’ll remember you
And all the times that we used to……sit right here on the edge of this pier
And watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beer
Drink a beer,
Drink a beer.
(Photo credit: rich115)
This year, my birthday falls the day before Thanksgiving. I have been thinking about both of these days a lot lately. Dad always sent me a card, and usually a gift with it, occasionally a phone call as well. Some of the best gifts he ever sent me were canned salmon and moose meat. Last year for my birthday he sent me 6 pints of canned salmon. This year, there will be no card from my Dad, my “first” birthday without him. But I hope to make the most of it, perhaps even spending the day out at his cabin (if the weather cooperates). I will enjoy the day with a few of the most important people in my life, wishing the others could be with me too.
The First Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Then comes Thanksgiving. Which is the one of the holidays I’ve spent with my Dad, so special in its own right. We do observe Thanksgiving as a day of special thanks to YHVH, a time to spend with friends and family, making special memories. I have to say that I’ve not been overly excited about preparing a big meal or doing a big “thing”, in part because I’ll be missing Dad and the rest of my family that I’m usually with during Thanksgiving. But as I sit here and type out these words I find myself looking forward to new memories, special friends and my babies. What’s not to get excited about? My “first” Thanksgiving, we will raise a toast to Dad and our new friends, our “old” friends (dear friends!) and our family near and far.
Hanukkah also begins on my birthday. As you can see, there is a lot going on that week! We will be busy for certain.
Life goes on.
8 degrees. That was our high today at the work site. That’s warm considering we started out at -4 degrees. Thankful for that forced air heater we have blowing in our work area! Still, the tootsies get mighty cold!
Cut logs
Logs are milled into straight sided beams.
The floor and door are framed and the logs are going up.
This is a portable rec cabin on skids.
As the courses go up, windows are framed in. Windows and doors are set in with slides that allow the cabin logs to shrink without binding the frames.
Almost to the top of the windows!
Adding roof support beams.
Oh so close to being done!
Finished rec cabin, complete with deck!
With the kiddos feeling ill and the weather turning chill (I’m a poet, lol) it’s time for some beef broth. I found some long beef bones at the store a while back, stuck ’em in the freezer for just such a day. I need a bigger stock pot though… Toss in some fresh rosemary, dried parsley, onion, lots of garlic, carrots, potatoes and salt and simmer away.
Beef bone broth not only warms the body, but it’s full of nutrients that do a body good. These bones that I’m using aren’t ideal, smaller bones with more cartilage would be better for their higher gelatin content, but you do with what you have around here. It is best to slowly cook the broth for days. Actually, a crock pot is great and you can make “perpetual broth” which you just keep adding ingredients and water to as you use broth out of your pot.
Believe it or not, this is the first pot of bone broth I’ve made since moving here. Sad, I know. But better late than never! 😉 Now I just need to get a crock of ‘kraut and some kombucha brewing and I’ll be back in the swing of things!
Pot of bone broth in the making.
It snowed Sunday night, our first snow as Alaska residents. The kids got to go outside while it was coming down just for a few minutes since it was late and getting dark. The next day, I had an off day from work and after we tidied up the house they got to go outside and really play in the snow. We only got a couple of inches this time, so not really enough to make anything dynamic with it, but fun to play in none-the-less.
The girls wanted to snowball fight but for some reason, their brother did not. Hmmm, me thinks they were ganging up on him.
I asked “How much do you love the snow?” “This much” says Thing Two!
Our backyard and the play set.
Today they are only enjoying the snow from the window sill, coughs and sniffles are keeping them inside. 😦
But we will survive by baking some banana bread!
It is that time of year to remember and acknowledge the sacrifice and service of our Veterans. Remember, Veteran’s Day is meant to honor the living vets in our lives, and those who did not die during service (Memorial Day is for Vets who died in service to our country.) Our town has an avenue of flags down the highway as is popular in many communities across our nation. There are a large number of veterans in Alaska. Both of my vets are gone now, my Grandpa and Dad. Grandpa served during WWII as a forward scout and Dad served in the heavy artillery division in the Vietnam conflict.
Dad
The fact that both of them survived their very close calls is nothing less than a miracle. Grandpa took gunshots in the midsection. I remember seeing all those bullet hole scars in his abdomen as a child and asking him what they were, he always told us grand-kids that they were extra belly buttons. Talking about their war experiences was difficult for both of them. War is hell. There is no other way to describe it.
Grandpa
There’s nothing glamorous about war. It changes people’s lives, for multiple generations. I look forward to the day when we have no more need for war. Even so, I am so grateful for the honorable service both of these men offered their country. I am even more grateful that they came home. They were scared, but not cowards, they did their “duty”, and they were changed forever for it. Their war experiences were passed down to the second and third generations, through the various ways that war changed them, it changed us.
Sunday night I noticed something in my eye, I couldn’t find it or get anything out, but I certainly felt a scratch. Over night there wasn’t any improvement, my eye was matted and swollen upon waking. I had a few single use Boiron homeopathic drops that I used that day to keep my eye from being so irritated. All day my eye was sore, dry, scratchy and I felt like all I wanted to do was lay down and sleep! Later, after work, I stopped and picked up some Similisan homeopathic eye drops (it’s awesome that several stores up here carry herbs and homeopathics!). I used them that night and all day Tuesday. My eye felt like there was sandpaper under my upper lid. The drops seemed to help but just didn’t get the job of healing the scratched area done. Weds morning I pulled out my handy EODR and looked up eye injuries to see if I had any oils on hand to help my sore, irritated eye. And of course Lavender was indicated! (It really is the “Jack of all Trades” of oils!) That morning, I rubbed a drop around my eye, being careful not to get it into my eye. I could feel the vapors going into my eye, not uncomfortable but noticeable. I continued to use the homeopathic drops later that day, but my eye was feeling better. By the next day (Thursday) my eye felt normal and I discontinued use of the drops. I can’t attribute my healed eye only to the lavender oil, because the homeopathic drops were helpful, but I do feel that the lavender brought a speedier healing for sure!
Alaska on my mind... 