Fairy living

I've heard of Fairy Doors before, but have never seen one in person. Apartment Therapy has a post about them today:

Now, what is really super sweet is one of the comments at the end of that post, describing how this person's parents built a fairy door for their grandkid and even add little fairy-sized accessories to the space, to the delight of said grandkid.

This one is from Urban Fairies.com:

Eruptions

This volcano is really inconsiderate -- messing everything up for people, forcing flight cancellations, making me be on-call this weekend in case my medical place of employment needs to issue a press release...

My boss is supposed to be in Hawaii today but the flight left WITHOUT her and her family! Have you ever heard of such a thing? Sounds like it was one of last flights to get out of Anchorage before Alaska Airlines shut down all routes. Whoever was in the gate area got to board and poof, they were out of there. And I thought D and I had bad luck when it came to traveling!

The National Weather Service is still reporting that Anchorage will receive trace amounts of ash (which is almost nothing). The snow is coming down fluffy and heavy, and I wonder if that affects the ash at all?

Weather issues

According to Alaskology, Alaska is stomping the competition is regards to daylight amounts. We have more than 12 hours per day now! And will still be gaining about 5-6 minutes per day until the Summer Solstice in June.

Mt. Redbout has been steadily erupting over the last few days. It's predicted that Anchorage will see a light dusting, but nothing too crazy. Flights are being delayed or cancelled, depending on where the ash clouds are being pushed by winds. It occurred to me that we've been dealing with this volcano issue for over two months now -- here's hoping it ends soon.

Tales from Tennessee

My parents called yesterday and in the background I could hear the buzzing of a chainsaw. Apparently the epic battle between my mom and the evil pinecones has finally come to an end. Winner? MY MOM OF COURSE! Mom: 1 / Pinecones: 0

I've been hearing about these pinecones for years now -- they drop from the trees towering over my parents' lovely log home. Wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that the roof is metal and every pinecone hit is reminiscent of a bomb drop. So some of the trees had to go.

Then they tell me that one of the trees is not being cut all the way because my dad is building my mom a TREE HOUSE! How awesome is that?

I LOVE being regaled with my parents' stories about living next to the Smoky Mountains. It is pure entertainment, peoples. Like the time my dad tried to take out the groundhog that took up residence in the yard and his arrow just thunked off the little bugger's head. And the time my mom saw a huge kitty that ended up being a coyote. AND the time a black bear crawled up on the front porch and hung out for a while. Actually, I should have them guest-post some articles here on this blog so the stories can come out in their own words.

What do you think, parents?

Walk Hard

Last night D took a break from the bathroom reno and we hunkered down on the couch to watch "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," starring John C. Reilly (who I think is hilarious). The first part of the movie and some scenes afterwards are pretty funny, but overall the film is not that great.

However there were some scenes that we just couldn't stop laughing at, especially in the very beginning:

Preacher: [referring to Dewey's Take my Hand song] You think we don't know what you're talking about when you say "take my hand"?
Dewey Cox: What do you mean? It's about holding hands.
Pa Cox: You watch your mouth.
Preacher: You know who's got hands? The devil, and he uses them for holding.

Dewey Cox: Maybe you don't believe in me at all.
Edith: I do believe in you... I just know you're gonna fail.

Edith: What about my dreams?
Dewey Cox: Edith I told you I can't build your candy house! It will fall apart, the sun will melt the candy, it won't work!

I can relate to that whole candy house thing...

Welcome to the world

Congrats to D's brother and sister-in-law -- their new baby girl arrived last night!

She is beyond adorable in the photo I saw. In person she is probably making heads explode because of the cuteness factor.

Shower makeover

Master bathroom renovations continue. D is working very hard while I get some cleanup duty and generally stay out of his way. We have lived with this cramped little depressing bathroom for almost exactly 2 years so I'm ecstatic to see the finished product!

The bathroom before -- don't get me started on the condition of things in this space. The tile was pretty awful and there was CARPET on the floor. Happily D will also be installing beautiful large tiles on the floor along with a heated mat to warm our frigid toes in winter.

Here's a sneak peek at the new shower tile:

My request for a bench seat in the shower was approved! Seriously, it is almost impossible to shave my legs in a regular shower stall. I need that bench big time. Fancy schmancy pull-out shower head to be installed soon.

The wall behind the old stall and next to the toilet was hiding dead space, so D tore out the drywall and expanded the new shower. It'll be such a luxury to have all that extra space:

More photos to follow!

Volcano

Just to quiet everyone's fears, we're all fine here in Anchorage and southcentral Alaska. Mt. Redoubt has been erupting all morning but so far the ash has fallen mostly on the Susitna Valley, up north from us. Sounds like the ash fall is fairly light. So, no worries!

Whittier '08

Before I met D, I had never once stepped foot in Whittier, Alaska. In my defense though, NOBODY went to Whittier when I was growing up. It was (and still is) a tiny town and you could only get there by hopping on the train. Everyone lives in a big apartment building, which doesn't see any direct sun for quite a bit in the wintertime.

With the construction of the tunnel, more and more boaters, kayakers and tourists could drive through to the gloriousness that is Prince William Sound! Now I spend more time in PWS than I ever could have imagined.

These photos are from our first trip of the summer season last year -- around mid-May 2008.

A nice drive down the Seward Highway -- Turnagain Arm is the body of water between the highway and mountains.

In one of many of Culross Island's little beaches.

Occasionally an interloper finds its way into the traps. We deal with squid, crabs and sea urchins after the whole haul has come up. Can't leave them too long -- otherwise the squid will suck out the meat from the shrimp.

Spot shrimp missing his long, razor-like nose poker.

Shrimp all cleaned out and traps ready for another long soaking.

Lots of snow still around in May.

We were lucky to see a float plane take off one day.

Airborne (way off in the distance)!

Drift prefers to ride up front -- he rarely sits inside with us, except when it's really rough and bumpy. Even then he'll sit outside at the very back of boat near the engine.

Sometimes, when we're very, very lucky, a clear day and flat seas happen on the same day. And a sea otter comes out to play.

The forests are quiet and awe-inspiring at the same time. I always get the feeling that we are the first people to walk around in the area.

We'll end on a shrimpy note!