Happy news has been just rolling in! First off, our friends Susie and Mike delivered a healthy 8 lb. baby boy yesterday morning. Jackson Scott was just 4 days late...not too bad, just a little off schedule.
AND, I just received word that I am the grand prize winner of a local radio contest -- $500 day spa certificate and $500 Nordstrom gift card all for me! Just in time for my birthday. Thanks Magic 98.9 FM!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Fireweed
I snapped these fireweed photos on our way back to Anchorage on Sunday night...which turned into an 8 1/2 hour journey. One thing about trips up here, you never know what will happen so it's best to have a positive attitude!
Local lore says that when the blooms reach the very top of the plant, winter is approximately 6 weeks away.
Local lore says that when the blooms reach the very top of the plant, winter is approximately 6 weeks away.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Kitty says: I brought you a present...
In the summer, my cats are free to roam outside willy-nilly. 2 of the 3 tend to stay close to home and within the backyard area, while the third (Pepper) can't wait to get the hell out of Dodge. She disappears for hours and sometimes doesn't make it home by the time we lock up for the night, so we'll find her mewing outside the screen door in the a.m.
Lately Pepper has turned into a bloodthirsty huntress and twice now has brought me little furry offerings -- the latest coming last night. I went to let her in and saw a little vole (Alaska's version of the mouse) firmly clutched in her mouth. Ew ew ew ew gross! I made D dispose of the first one last week, but this time I put on my big girl pants and chucked this latest dead thing into the furthest reaches of our yard.
Lately Pepper has turned into a bloodthirsty huntress and twice now has brought me little furry offerings -- the latest coming last night. I went to let her in and saw a little vole (Alaska's version of the mouse) firmly clutched in her mouth. Ew ew ew ew gross! I made D dispose of the first one last week, but this time I put on my big girl pants and chucked this latest dead thing into the furthest reaches of our yard.
She managed to get the first one (that I know of, eek!) into the house -- can you say disinfectant?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Leavin' on a jet plane (in 19 days)
In a little less than three weeks I will be flying down (thanks for miles, mom!) to the beautiful and laid-back little town that my parents have called home for quite a few years now. Gatlinburg is situated at the base of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and I'll tell you what, I have never slept so well as I do in my "room" at my parents' house. It's so quiet -- no highways or busy streets around their neighborhood -- and quaint log cabin homes dot the landscape. Can't wait!
Monday, July 27, 2009
More Kenai River king fishing
Sunday morning was our last opportunity to fish for king salmon before the end of that season. After trolling for a bit, Mim had fought a nice sized king and D scooped it up. Here he is cutting the gills to let it bleed out before tucking it away in the cooler.
Most salmon are filleted, but with kings we like to cut them into "steaks."
King eggs are the best to use as bait. Add some super-secret ingredients, mix it up and refrigerate. Don and Mim let D have these eggs so they'll get used next season!
Look at that king! Just slightly pink and weighing close to about 35 pounds. And in other good news, the dog managed to not fall out of the boat this time.
Mim and her catch:
Mim and her catch:
Most salmon are filleted, but with kings we like to cut them into "steaks."
King eggs are the best to use as bait. Add some super-secret ingredients, mix it up and refrigerate. Don and Mim let D have these eggs so they'll get used next season!
Kenai River dipnetting
It was a bad weekend for accidents on the Seward Highway. We missed the crash on Friday evening, but were stopped by the one on Sunday (and could even see the lights of the State Troopers a few miles ahead.) In all we waited, at a standstill, for 5 1/2 hours -- and finally arrived home at 3 a.m. Needless to say, D and I are tired today.
Most of the time I drove the boat, while the guys traded off dipnetting and bonking/tail clipping/gill cutting. At times the water was rough and the waves pushed us around. It was definitely a wet, windy and cold time for everyone.
Marty and Mike hard at work with the dipnets. It seems like everytime Mike took a swig of beer, a fish would swim into his net -- so I encouraged him to stay hydrated...
I tried netting for a while but it really gets difficult when the boat moves a lot, so I left that to the guys. In total, we fished from 2 pm until about 10:30 pm. I got one porta-potty break, thank the lord. At the end, the guys decided to gut the fish on board while I slowly motored back to the bridge. It seriously looked like a horror movie in the back of the boat -- blood everywhere!
Our total for the day? 35 reds! We gave the majority to the guys since they don't get to fish every weekend like some crazy people. :-)
The rest of that weekend was great though -- Saturday morning we fished for kings from the boat but got skunked. That afternoon, D and I motored almost to the mouth of the Kenai to pick up Mike and Marty for an afternoon (and evening!) of dipnetting.
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