Culture and traditions

Last month Hannah, Ashleigh and I went to see the production of Mikado. DeAnna was one of the dancers and did fantastically. The set was beautiful and the acting/singing was great. Isn't DeAnna beautiful? It was so fun to watch!

Yesterday, some of the family went to get our trees in the meadows above our N. Douglas property. We've been doing this for 30 years now. The weather was perfect, just below freezing but not too cold and there was little snow. It was FUN! I was taking pictures and DeAnna was there too, but I didn't get her in any pix.

Luna had fun sliding on iced over bog holes.

A shot of an interesting old tree that had broken over and continued to grow.

Luna actually cut down her own tree!

The final choices.

Tim, Mick, Brian E, son Bryan H, & Luna.

Isn't Tim's the best?!

Sneak preview

We've had Tim helping us put in a second bathroom. He's done a beautiful job. Here's a sneak preview.

This is the beginning of the job after sheetrock has been installed. The room was in pretty bad shape before this stage.

Almost done. still have electrical work to do and waiting for the toilet to get in stock at Home Depot.

End of Summer

We just returned from a two week vacation, split between

my relatives in Oklahoma and Mick's relatives in Colorado. It was a great trip. Just wish we could have spent a little more time with everyone.

Some Colorado pix:

Caves at Rifle Falls with family.

On top of Lands End on Grand Mesa. That's our road, curving back and forth all the way down.

Our elevation here is over 10,000 feet.

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Colorado is an amazing state to visit!

In Oklahoma:

We spent a day at the Oklahoma State Fair in Okla. City with my brother, Roy.

And went to Pops on old Route 66 in Arcadia OK. This giant soda bottle lights up at night. The place is a gas station, restaurant and store for a gazillion kinds of sodas in bottles. Fun to visit.

And, I thought I'd throw in a fewe more pix from this summer in Juneau:

Luna with salmonberries.

In front of the tall fireweed.

I hiked up to Granite Creek Basin with Dan and Ashleigh.

This is just the sweetest baby ever!

Felix Hideo

six weeks later....

It's been a busy summer! Painting shelves, a chair, a vanity for the new bathroom. (they didn't have the size we need in white, so I spray painted one, which turned out really well). Lots of sunshine and thus, lots of yard work. Friends in town (yay Mel and Paulette); our old friend Ash moved back to Juneau and is currently staying with us.(yay Ash). Scooter rides, getting tattooed, hikes up to Granite Creek Basin (2 hours up the mountain one way). Oh yes, I did say tattoo. A small blue flower on the top of my foot. I got it for myself for my 50th birthday. I figured that I needed a tattoo since I have a scooter. I did it while Mick was out of town and surprised him when he got home. :-) I'm getting wild in my middle age.

So, here's few pix of the summer happenings...

What would a grandma's blog be without pix of their grandchildren?

Up to trouble? Of course!

Here's Mick with the toy he rented for a day to dig up salmonberry roots in our back yard. I'm sure it was not really work. He was having too much fun.

Just look at all of these! Aren't they beautiful? Well, at least they are to me. I've made 10 batches of jams and jellies; one of my absolute most fun things to do. So far I've made raspberry, salmonberry and currant. Last night I made the raspberry and poured a cup full of jam right on my poor thumb! Yes, I do have a nice little blister now.

I still need to pick some more nagoon berries to make at least one batch of that jelly. I'm also thinking of trying rose hip jelly this year.

Ta ta for now...

p.s. Hannah, aren't you proud of me for figuring out how to put a picture on our title?

Crazy lady driving!

No pix right now to post, but I have to announce that I passed my motorcycle written and road tests and now have my MOTORCYCLE LICENSE ! What?! Midlife crisis?! Me????!!!
Really, it's all Mick's fault for getting me a scooter without my permission.

AND yes, My family threw a completely surprising Surprise Party for me on Monday night. It was great! There are still streamers and balloons all over my house. I sure love my family!

Birthday time

Well, I'm back.  A few things have been happening lately, so I finally have something to write about.

Nephew Jeffrey from Colorado came for a two week visit.  We got to see him for a couple days at each end of the visit, as we had our vacation planned during that time.  We sure do appreciate him staying with our dog!!   Jeff is so much fun and such a cutie.  Everyone here has been trying to get him to move up, but as a mother, I understand that he should stay near his mom and dad. 

Our little Luna lost her two front teeth.  She is so adorable!  Doesn't she look like a little pixie here?  Her sixth birthday is coming up in a few days.

Our vacation to Washington state was great!  One highlight was to be at the finish line when Mick's brother, Brian, came in from a 50 mile endurance trail race.  That's trails, as in mountain trails.  It took him 11 hours 35 minutes.  He looks pretty good here just a minute after coming through the finish line.  I'm so proud of him for doing this race!  Yay Brian!

My very creative and talented son, Tim, made this potholder shelf for me for my birthday out of exotic woods.  Isn't it beautiful?  This picture does not do it justice.

So, my 50th birthday was last week.  Mick and I toolied around Washington and thoroughly enjoyed the trip... Snoqualmie Falls,  Grand Coolee Dam,  vineyards, orchards, antique shops.... and even an overnight visit with his bother and wife in N. Idaho.   That trip was all I wanted for my birthday, but Mick felt like a scooter was the perfect present, so here it is!  He's been trying to get me on a motorcycle for years!  Well, now I have to go get my motorcycle license.  UGH!  The one thing I don't like is that I look like an alien head in the helmet!

Another beach walk

We enjoyed someone's beach sculptures.  This one was obviously supposed to be a bird.

  No way was Asher going to need help while walking on the rocks; then he fell.

When I'm on the beach I look for shells and glass.  Grandpa and Asher find bigger things.
Hannah with Asher (and Felix in the baby pack)

Spring has sprung

My crocuses are in full bloom.  The lovely little things make me smile every time I see them.

There was still a foot of snow on the ground, but Luna didn't mind.  The temp on Easter sunday was about 46 degrees.  Of course, the eggs had to be hidden inside.

Content with the simple things

Reading Janet's recent blog has gotten me thinking about things that make me happy.  Number one being: grandchildren.  Need I say more?

Here are a few things that make me content enough to smile:

Putting on brand new socks

Reading Jane Austen books in hardback  (aah, the thrill of just holding one!)

Going to a chick-flick with the girls

Fresh flowers, especially in my own garden

Smelling a new box of crayons

Halibut tacos at Twisted Fish

Those are a few just off the top of my head right now.

On another subject,  I'm not into politics at all, but this past election season has introduced me to Ann Coulter.  I enjoy her articles immensely.  Check out her Archives at anncoulter.com.

Adios for now.

anncoulter.com

Pack Leader

I've been reading a book that Mick got for Christmas:  "Be the Pack Leader" by Cesar Millan,  aka the Dog Whisperer.  So tonight, with my newfound pack-leader calmness, I attempted to clip Molly's nails.  Let me preface this with some insight of what the past clippings were like.  They were at least 20 minutes of frustration, holding a panicky dog, wrapping her in a towel and letting Mick try to hold her down, panting, drooling (dog, not me), getting clawed up and covered in white dog hair, and then everyone so relieved when the ordeal was over.  Well, tonight I calmly sat on the floor with my arsenal of Cheerios and clippers.  I told her to come to me, gently clipped one or two at a time, and rewarded her with a treat.  It only took about 10 minutes to complete and ended so happily.  What a difference!  I didn't even have to change clothes afterward!  Thank you Cesar Millan!!!!  Somehow I feel like I received the reward!

I'm Back...

I haven't been doing much to blog about lately.  I've taken some more beach walks, which is probably one of my favorite things to do.  As evidenced below,  I do more looking at the beach than at scenery when I do it.  Here are some little sand cones I found one time.  I think they must be made by worms.  They average about an inch in length.  I've only seen them the one time in my 32 years here.  I added the shell fossil (top right) for fun.

Another first find in Juneau.... a giant barnacle!  To the untrained eye, it's not a thing of beauty, but it was my treasure for the day.  The barnacle on the right is a little larger than the normal size around here.  The base is about one inch across.  The one I found on the left is about two inches across and one and a half inches tall.  

Speaking of eye:

Hannah helped me pick out new glasses today.  I'll post a picture of them in a couple weeks.

Since Mick has gotten a new I Mac, I've been working on loading my 28 video tapes onto it and working on editing and putting them on DVD.  It took me 2 hours to edit a 4 minute movie, so I think this will be a long-term project.        Ta Ta for now....

A job with a view...

This is what I get to look at from my desk all day.  It was taken about 3pm after the sun had disappeared from downtown and is still shining on the mountains in the distance.  It's even a great view on rainy days.  In the summertime all the tour ships dock in this area and float planes fly in and out.  One great bonus for working at my job!

It's TWINS!!

Today was a very fun day!  I had  a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound!  If you've never had one, be forewarned:  PAINFUL!   Well, all is okay in that area; but while I was at the hospital I asked if I could have the ultrasound pictures from 32 years ago when I was "diagnosed" with twins.  I had the very first set of twins to be viewed on the NEW ultrasound machine at the hospital.  The pictures look so archaic compared to current ultrasound; but isn't this great!?  Those are two little round heads, not boobs!    This was taken July 9 1977 when I was six months pregnant.

Jumping in

                                                   In front of the Mendenhall Glacier

 

Beach glass and shells

The best finds

"IF IT's NALLEY's ITS GOOD"

Out the road.... gorgeous!

Those are white mountains in the distance.

I'm finally jumping in to the blog-world!  I still can't bring myself to start a Face-book profile. I'm warning you that I won't update this often, but I'll try to learn how to take good (well, at least decent) pictures occasionally and put them on the blog.  Then again, I'll probably just use Mick's pictures.  My inspiration tonight is that I was sitting here, looking at all the great beach glass, shells and rocks we collected yesterday and today, and thinking how I'd love to show someone!  The winter temps have been in the twenties, the sun has been shining and no wind blowing, so it has been perfect weather to get Molly out on the beaches.  So much for house cleaning these past two days.  We live in such a beautiful place that it's hard to stay inside when it finally sunshines!