I can't believe it has been more than a year since I posted a blog. I don't know where some of the year went, but I know what happened to most of it.
In early summer, my mother's mother, my dear Grandma Marian Lusk, and my father, Ted Whisler, both were hospitalized with serious health issues and over summer and fall both continued to struggle.
On November 7, 2010, My Grandmother passed away in Oregon City, Oregon.
On January 11, 2011, My Father passed away in Taylorsville, Utah.
I feel like my legs have been cut off and my heart ripped from my chest and thrown through a wood chipper.
We will all miss them so very very much.
On a happier note, Brian's life long dream of a hunt in Africa will take place this year - in March, 2011. We'll post pictures and stories when he gets back.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Saturday, December 26, 2009
my new desk and quilt
As most of you know, I'm working on an extensive family history project and Brian was watching me one day struggle with our little computer desk, which was a family heirloom antique table. Very treasured, but did not work at all for my project. I hadn't said anything because I know money is tight right now because our business depends on other people having and spending money.... so being a grown up girl, I just decided to make do with my little table.
A week before Christmas, Justin and Alicia went to Soldotna - supposedly to get wood for him to build her a sideboard for her little kitchen downstairs. There were lots of sneaky questions, like did I like typing with my text over to the right like that, and did I think the craft table was too high or too low, and one day, Justin sat at the computer table pretending he was talking to us and playing with his tape measure - but he actually was measuring my monitor and the height of the table and such.
There was lots of sawing and sanding and bringing furniture in thru the garage to dry on Alicia's floor and she told me not to look downstairs because on the other side of her present, my present was drying on the floor.. LIes, all LIES.
So finally Christmas Eve when it was time to open the presents, Brian opened all the front doors and went down and the three of them came up the outside stairs with this giant birch desk. The edges are all trimmed with this beautiful carved leaf border. There are pull-out drawers for my scanner and for my printer. A built in holder where I hang the text - on the left - next to the monitor. Shelves that fit the little boxes where I keep the family history slips. A huge table top to hold all the books and pictures and stuff that I need to put into the computer. The wood is a light birch - the same color as the other wood in our living room. I'm so excited. I'll add some more pictures of the trim and the shelves and such, but this is the first of just the desk when it came upstairs.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Time to move for the month
Time to switch to the family christmas blog for a month or so. We haven't been blogging a lot since we have been on facebook, but facebook is only good for some kinds of communication. for the whole story, I think a blog is better.
so drop by and visit our whole family on the Christmas blog:
http://family-christmas.blogspot.com/
so drop by and visit our whole family on the Christmas blog:
http://family-christmas.blogspot.com/
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Before
Before again
A bit blurry, but a good view of the overall room
Mom wanted to make curtains with some really nice fabric that we used for table cloths at my wedding, but then I was looking on JCPenny, and they were having a huge sale, and we got these much cheaper than making them, and they are done! Turned out great I think, and much better than the blinds/towel hung up before. :) Now we just need to repaint the green, its a little faded. Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Springtime in Alaska
I need to take some photos, I'm not sure how many posts I have started with that phrase, but I really mean it this time. hehehe
We didn't have a garden last year - it never dried up enough to till the garden so we grew a couple things in the little greenhouse Justin built up on the deck, but that was all. So the ground rested and got covered with a foot of goat bedding and manure. Plus the volcano ash that fell on it.
We have had a perfect spring. The ash really did melt the snow early and then it has just been warm and blue skies and perfect weather. I think this is the second time in 16 years we have had this kind of spring.
So our backyard got all dug up last year putting in the new septic system and Brian didn't want to plant it to grass - he hates to mow - so Alicia got the idea to put in a berry patch inside the fence where we can water it and tend it and hopefully it will grow. So they put manure in and tilled it a couple times and begged raspberries from everyone we know and then it rained for 4 days -a warm, light rain - and the berry plants look marvelous, darling, simply marvelous. At our other house in Anchor Point, we had excellent raspberries, so they do grow really well here, we just haven't had them in a good spot. keep your fingers crossed for us.
Anyway, back to the big garden. I had a physical therapy eval last week in Soldotna and it was a perfect spring/summer day so we stopped at one of their nurseries and got our standard 144 plants of broccoli, 2 zucchini, some celery, dill, pok choy and cabbage and seed potatoes. The seed potatoes at our nursery would have run around 150 dollars for the amoung we paid 18 dollars for in Soldotna. It is so frustrating to shop in Homer.
We had been buying seeds for the garden for months - it's how we get thru the winter. So Brian and Alicia went out one beautiful day and planted and planted - they got everything in except the peas which we couldn't find. I have cucumber and tomato seeds to start and grow in Justin's green house, but i haven't started them yet.
the little plants got a little beat up in the wind we've had for the past couple days, but they still look cool out there. I love watching a garden grow.
The mama and daddy crane are back - we see at least one of them almost every day - sometimes they are out together, but usually just one at a time, which means they are nesting again. We are so excited they came back this year. Last year was the first year they fledged a chick in our neighborhood.
A new mama moose had her baby in the neighborhood. She looks like one of the twins that was born here 2 years ago. She is small and this is her first baby. Hopefully the first of many that she will have here.
We are overrun with eagles this year. As near as we can tell, we have 6 pair nesting on the bluff below us. That's a lot of hungry chicks to feed. And they make no secret of still using our yard as a McDonald's drivethru. Poor kitty cat can't go outside until it's dark (from midnight to 3 -- no self-respectable cat thinks that is long enough to be out chasing tweety birds - not to mention that the tweety birds sleep during those hours as well. It is driving him crazy - he can hear his tweety birds singing in the day time, but no one will let him out -- and then when he does get to go out, there aren't any birds singing).
Alicia had to put netting over the goat pens so the eagles wouldn't take the baby goats. She ended up with the nanny, Gabby, who had a boy and a girl. One girl baby survived from the batch that died and she bought a billy goat baby that isn't related to any of the girls so we will have 3 nannies and one billy. The billy that Gabby birthed will be sold. We decided to not name them after TV characters anymore - we don't know how their story lines will go. So Gabby is still Gabby from Desperate housewives, but her kids are Mr. Tumnus, the fawn and Lucy - the characters from Narnia. Our favorite new book of 2008. Oh, so Susan the other nanny baby is still called Susan, but instead of being Susan from Desperate Housewives, she is Susan from Narnia. and the Billy we are keeping is Billy Bob Thornton... which has nothing to do with Narnia but it seemed to fit him. hehehehe
A girl from our ward in Pendleton when we were girls found me on facebook and she has a bunch of friends from the ward there that she is on facebook with. Her name is Cathy Udy - her dad was so nice to always try to keep that stupid blue car of mine running. It's strange to be in touch with someone from my teen years - I miss having contact with people from my past. It has been so hard the past 30 years because Brian has been surrounded by everyone he ever met and I haven't had anyone to be in touch with. Especially losing 5 friends this past year, I am very aware of how much those people from our past meant to me.
Have you see the pics of the eagles on Alicia's blog?? they are incredible
We didn't have a garden last year - it never dried up enough to till the garden so we grew a couple things in the little greenhouse Justin built up on the deck, but that was all. So the ground rested and got covered with a foot of goat bedding and manure. Plus the volcano ash that fell on it.
We have had a perfect spring. The ash really did melt the snow early and then it has just been warm and blue skies and perfect weather. I think this is the second time in 16 years we have had this kind of spring.
So our backyard got all dug up last year putting in the new septic system and Brian didn't want to plant it to grass - he hates to mow - so Alicia got the idea to put in a berry patch inside the fence where we can water it and tend it and hopefully it will grow. So they put manure in and tilled it a couple times and begged raspberries from everyone we know and then it rained for 4 days -a warm, light rain - and the berry plants look marvelous, darling, simply marvelous. At our other house in Anchor Point, we had excellent raspberries, so they do grow really well here, we just haven't had them in a good spot. keep your fingers crossed for us.
Anyway, back to the big garden. I had a physical therapy eval last week in Soldotna and it was a perfect spring/summer day so we stopped at one of their nurseries and got our standard 144 plants of broccoli, 2 zucchini, some celery, dill, pok choy and cabbage and seed potatoes. The seed potatoes at our nursery would have run around 150 dollars for the amoung we paid 18 dollars for in Soldotna. It is so frustrating to shop in Homer.
We had been buying seeds for the garden for months - it's how we get thru the winter. So Brian and Alicia went out one beautiful day and planted and planted - they got everything in except the peas which we couldn't find. I have cucumber and tomato seeds to start and grow in Justin's green house, but i haven't started them yet.
the little plants got a little beat up in the wind we've had for the past couple days, but they still look cool out there. I love watching a garden grow.
The mama and daddy crane are back - we see at least one of them almost every day - sometimes they are out together, but usually just one at a time, which means they are nesting again. We are so excited they came back this year. Last year was the first year they fledged a chick in our neighborhood.
A new mama moose had her baby in the neighborhood. She looks like one of the twins that was born here 2 years ago. She is small and this is her first baby. Hopefully the first of many that she will have here.
We are overrun with eagles this year. As near as we can tell, we have 6 pair nesting on the bluff below us. That's a lot of hungry chicks to feed. And they make no secret of still using our yard as a McDonald's drivethru. Poor kitty cat can't go outside until it's dark (from midnight to 3 -- no self-respectable cat thinks that is long enough to be out chasing tweety birds - not to mention that the tweety birds sleep during those hours as well. It is driving him crazy - he can hear his tweety birds singing in the day time, but no one will let him out -- and then when he does get to go out, there aren't any birds singing).
Alicia had to put netting over the goat pens so the eagles wouldn't take the baby goats. She ended up with the nanny, Gabby, who had a boy and a girl. One girl baby survived from the batch that died and she bought a billy goat baby that isn't related to any of the girls so we will have 3 nannies and one billy. The billy that Gabby birthed will be sold. We decided to not name them after TV characters anymore - we don't know how their story lines will go. So Gabby is still Gabby from Desperate housewives, but her kids are Mr. Tumnus, the fawn and Lucy - the characters from Narnia. Our favorite new book of 2008. Oh, so Susan the other nanny baby is still called Susan, but instead of being Susan from Desperate Housewives, she is Susan from Narnia. and the Billy we are keeping is Billy Bob Thornton... which has nothing to do with Narnia but it seemed to fit him. hehehehe
A girl from our ward in Pendleton when we were girls found me on facebook and she has a bunch of friends from the ward there that she is on facebook with. Her name is Cathy Udy - her dad was so nice to always try to keep that stupid blue car of mine running. It's strange to be in touch with someone from my teen years - I miss having contact with people from my past. It has been so hard the past 30 years because Brian has been surrounded by everyone he ever met and I haven't had anyone to be in touch with. Especially losing 5 friends this past year, I am very aware of how much those people from our past meant to me.
Have you see the pics of the eagles on Alicia's blog?? they are incredible
Friday, May 29, 2009
Baby Goats
Gabby had two little babys the other night! They are happy and healthy, so far, fingers crossed. They are cute and playful, maybe some good news finally. She will post pictures soon.
Raspberries
Alicia and I went to some friends house today and dug up a bunch of raspberry plants, to plant in our new berry patch, that we tilled up in the back yard. So far we have 3 rows of raspberries and a row of strawberrys. Mom wanted some for her birthday, so there you go! Still rainy here, no good fishing so far, but maybe soon. Always optimistic!
Monday, May 25, 2009
No Cancer
I forgot to post on the blog - I posted on FACEBOOK and called a few people, but for the rest of you here's the good news.
They didn't find any cancer at all. I am going to stay on hormones, the doctor says probably for the rest of my life, which is fine because the really help me feel better. They we will continue to follow up with check-ups every 4 months, but he doesn't anticipate that for the immediate future, anyway, that he will find any cancer.
WHEW - a whole year of my life wasted on worry, but a good result. I'm a little discouraged that they won't be doing any of the other surgeries. I was looking forward to having the giant hernia fixed, but after the funny German doctor explained to us how they would fix it, we all agreed that didn't sound very promising.
so life goes on as before - except I'm back on hormones. the really funny part is that this condition was diagnosed and treated successfully by our country doctor in Oregon, when Alicia was 1 year old. the doctors here took me off the hormones when I came to Alaska because they didn't understand why I was on them. The treatment plan I am on now, is exactly what was prescribed for me 28 years ago and if they had just kept following it, none of this would have happened.
Oh well. We are now busy with summer. Brian is done at the school and is busy welding. The fish aren't here yet - the salmon - a friend took him out halibut fishing last week so we have had our first fresh halibut of the year. Memorial Day was so early this year the king salmon aren't back yet so that fishing is really slow. Plus, we don't know how many will return because there were those 2 years of giant floods that wiped out many baby salmon - obviously those salmon won't be returning to the river to spawn, so it could be a slow run this year.
Two of the baby goats died this week. Two still live. The goat lady is on her way over right now to check Gabby and she is going to come over when Gabby is ready to deliver in case we need help. The trouble that Gabby might have is that she is really tiny and might need help getting the babies out. She seems really healthy and is still running all over her barn and yard and is eating and drinking.
The kids have more and more boats coming to launch. Not as many as we had hoped, but enough to pay the bills. Justin's brother-in-law walked off the job one day and somehow got someone at the Anchorage airport to pay his ticket to Albequrque (SP?) . so they had to hire another water boy. It turned out to be the son of a guy on the Time Bandit. 6 degrees of separation.... hehehe. Anyway, we are all fans of Deadliest Catch and Eddy's dad came and launched at the boat launch and Cordell got to meet him and have his picture taken with him so he is all atwitter with excitement. Eddy's dad (I think his name is Eddy, too?? ) is the Polynesian fellow - one tough fisherman. A couple seasons ago, he fished the entire crab seasons on a broken ankle.
Now Justin's sister and the kids want to go home, too, but they don't have the money to since her husband took all the money with him that they had. So everyone is a little on edge right now. We have had what we presume to be the swine flu. And that doesn't help anything. Alicia is going back and forth between treating the ulcer and treating the flu. She had a fever of 102 for 3 days, but Justin gave her a blessing and it finally came down to 99.
Brian and Justin are both still coughing and weak. We are hoping that this will give us immunity for the winter. I have hardly been sick at all, just mostly some muscle soreness, but I have lived thru 4 epidemics of this flu before, so i seem to have more immunity to it than the others.
Hope you don't get it. LOVE YOU ALL - Have a great summer.
OH- we have swallows, yellow legs, 2 kinds of ducks, a pair of cranes, and a mama moose hanging around our pond. WAY COOL. Also 3 pair of bald eagles nesting across the street, but you know how we feel about that. Darn vultures ! ! !
They didn't find any cancer at all. I am going to stay on hormones, the doctor says probably for the rest of my life, which is fine because the really help me feel better. They we will continue to follow up with check-ups every 4 months, but he doesn't anticipate that for the immediate future, anyway, that he will find any cancer.
WHEW - a whole year of my life wasted on worry, but a good result. I'm a little discouraged that they won't be doing any of the other surgeries. I was looking forward to having the giant hernia fixed, but after the funny German doctor explained to us how they would fix it, we all agreed that didn't sound very promising.
so life goes on as before - except I'm back on hormones. the really funny part is that this condition was diagnosed and treated successfully by our country doctor in Oregon, when Alicia was 1 year old. the doctors here took me off the hormones when I came to Alaska because they didn't understand why I was on them. The treatment plan I am on now, is exactly what was prescribed for me 28 years ago and if they had just kept following it, none of this would have happened.
Oh well. We are now busy with summer. Brian is done at the school and is busy welding. The fish aren't here yet - the salmon - a friend took him out halibut fishing last week so we have had our first fresh halibut of the year. Memorial Day was so early this year the king salmon aren't back yet so that fishing is really slow. Plus, we don't know how many will return because there were those 2 years of giant floods that wiped out many baby salmon - obviously those salmon won't be returning to the river to spawn, so it could be a slow run this year.
Two of the baby goats died this week. Two still live. The goat lady is on her way over right now to check Gabby and she is going to come over when Gabby is ready to deliver in case we need help. The trouble that Gabby might have is that she is really tiny and might need help getting the babies out. She seems really healthy and is still running all over her barn and yard and is eating and drinking.
The kids have more and more boats coming to launch. Not as many as we had hoped, but enough to pay the bills. Justin's brother-in-law walked off the job one day and somehow got someone at the Anchorage airport to pay his ticket to Albequrque (SP?) . so they had to hire another water boy. It turned out to be the son of a guy on the Time Bandit. 6 degrees of separation.... hehehe. Anyway, we are all fans of Deadliest Catch and Eddy's dad came and launched at the boat launch and Cordell got to meet him and have his picture taken with him so he is all atwitter with excitement. Eddy's dad (I think his name is Eddy, too?? ) is the Polynesian fellow - one tough fisherman. A couple seasons ago, he fished the entire crab seasons on a broken ankle.
Now Justin's sister and the kids want to go home, too, but they don't have the money to since her husband took all the money with him that they had. So everyone is a little on edge right now. We have had what we presume to be the swine flu. And that doesn't help anything. Alicia is going back and forth between treating the ulcer and treating the flu. She had a fever of 102 for 3 days, but Justin gave her a blessing and it finally came down to 99.
Brian and Justin are both still coughing and weak. We are hoping that this will give us immunity for the winter. I have hardly been sick at all, just mostly some muscle soreness, but I have lived thru 4 epidemics of this flu before, so i seem to have more immunity to it than the others.
Hope you don't get it. LOVE YOU ALL - Have a great summer.
OH- we have swallows, yellow legs, 2 kinds of ducks, a pair of cranes, and a mama moose hanging around our pond. WAY COOL. Also 3 pair of bald eagles nesting across the street, but you know how we feel about that. Darn vultures ! ! !
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Good Week for us so Far
I had my first minor surgery on Thursday in Soldotna. We were very impressed with the doctors and the nurses and the other staff we had contact with. Very on the ball and willing to listen to you and make you as comfortable as possible. Brian was able to take 2 sick days off from school to take care of me so Brian and Alicia tag-teamed me for the last 3 days. I'm still a little sore if I get up too quick, but that is all.
We had Negative results on the ovarian cancer markers so that is really exciting. The test should have been done a year ago, but somehow was overlooked so we have been worrying about ovarian cancer for a year longer than we needed to.
We should have the rest of the results of the by-bi-ba -bopsies on Wednesday and we can figure out where to go from there.
The kids finally had a really good day at the boat launch. The Clarks have never seen a good charter fishing day so were very surprised when so many boats showed up today. We know how many boats should be there every day - the question this year is definitely the tourist economy. And yes, Sandy, Alicia does know exactly how many boats they have to have a day to make money; how much to eek out their payments; how much to be able to eat this week..... Thus the ulcer and the vomiting blood. But today, they made money ! ! ! YAY.
I think Brian welded every night this week. He had done like 3 projects all winter and we didn't know how the economy would affect his business. He has 3 to 5 days of school left so it is very comforting to know that the guys will be bringing him their boats. One scenario we have been hoping for is that because money is so tight, people will be wanting to fix things instead of buy new - and if that is the case, we should do okay this summer.
Heavenly Father answers prayers. He really does. We had lots of prayers answered this week.
There was a really bad wildfire out East End Road. We have many, many church friends who live out there and the area was blocked off, so no one knew which houses burned and which didn't. We have a really close family that just paid off their house 6 months ago. they are living in Anchor Point for the summer, so were not in the house when the fire came.
They said the fire burned right up to the house on one side and someone had dug around the rest of the house with a bulldozer and had saved it. We are all so glad. These are humble people who could not afford to lose their home. Prayers answered.
Anyway, I just watched this strange movie : Children of Heaven. Very strange, indeed. Not to mention it was not in English. Strange.
We had Negative results on the ovarian cancer markers so that is really exciting. The test should have been done a year ago, but somehow was overlooked so we have been worrying about ovarian cancer for a year longer than we needed to.
We should have the rest of the results of the by-bi-ba -bopsies on Wednesday and we can figure out where to go from there.
The kids finally had a really good day at the boat launch. The Clarks have never seen a good charter fishing day so were very surprised when so many boats showed up today. We know how many boats should be there every day - the question this year is definitely the tourist economy. And yes, Sandy, Alicia does know exactly how many boats they have to have a day to make money; how much to eek out their payments; how much to be able to eat this week..... Thus the ulcer and the vomiting blood. But today, they made money ! ! ! YAY.
I think Brian welded every night this week. He had done like 3 projects all winter and we didn't know how the economy would affect his business. He has 3 to 5 days of school left so it is very comforting to know that the guys will be bringing him their boats. One scenario we have been hoping for is that because money is so tight, people will be wanting to fix things instead of buy new - and if that is the case, we should do okay this summer.
Heavenly Father answers prayers. He really does. We had lots of prayers answered this week.
There was a really bad wildfire out East End Road. We have many, many church friends who live out there and the area was blocked off, so no one knew which houses burned and which didn't. We have a really close family that just paid off their house 6 months ago. they are living in Anchor Point for the summer, so were not in the house when the fire came.
They said the fire burned right up to the house on one side and someone had dug around the rest of the house with a bulldozer and had saved it. We are all so glad. These are humble people who could not afford to lose their home. Prayers answered.
Anyway, I just watched this strange movie : Children of Heaven. Very strange, indeed. Not to mention it was not in English. Strange.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mothers Day
Happy Mothers Day! To all the mothers I know, especially the Mother of my children! Charlotte, I love you so much, have a special day. Love Brian
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Poor Alicia
Alicia has had a really hard week. One of their investors decided he wants his money back and she has been stressing about that all week.
then her favorite goat died right after delivery. Her therapy and solace for the past 6 months has been to go into the goat barn and spend time with Gretta. she spends hours brushing her and talking to her. So now she is devastated that her goat died and the person that can calm her down WAS the goat.
they brought the babies in the house last night and put them to bed by the heater. They didn't make a peep all night so that kind of worried us so she got up and was having an anxiety attack anyway and went over to check on them and they were too hot and were panting and she just lost it, because that was what Gretta did before she died. So Alicia did what she always does in stressful situations, she threw up, repeatedly. And then she noticed that the throw up was pink and then red ...
I had stayed up all night to be on hand for any emergency, but she thought I was sleeping so didn't even come get me - drove herself to the emergency room. The doctor thinks she might have an ulcer and the throwing up she has been doing just scratched her throat. The doctor in the ER today is an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Justin called the goat lady early this morning, she was heartbroken too. she really loved Gretta and wants to trade one of Gretta's nanny babies for the billy Alicia and Justin want. She had lots of frozen colostrum and 4 gallons of milk and some milk replacement. There wasn't any at the feed store when Alicia went yesterday to stock up, so we were lucky she had some extra.
thanks for the info, Carol. Everybody told us they had to be fed every 2 hours and had to be on colostrum for at least 3 days and stuff that just isn't possible - so your help is very calming. I read your post to Alicia in the Er and she was very relieved.
Anchor Point Chamber has this huge fishing tournament that was scheduled for today so the whole time Alicia was up with the goats and being sick, she was worried about what to do about the giant tournament and all the miles of boats they had to launch today. But the weather started out bad so they are having it tomorrow instead. so she can come home and rest when she gets done at the pharmacy.
then her favorite goat died right after delivery. Her therapy and solace for the past 6 months has been to go into the goat barn and spend time with Gretta. she spends hours brushing her and talking to her. So now she is devastated that her goat died and the person that can calm her down WAS the goat.
they brought the babies in the house last night and put them to bed by the heater. They didn't make a peep all night so that kind of worried us so she got up and was having an anxiety attack anyway and went over to check on them and they were too hot and were panting and she just lost it, because that was what Gretta did before she died. So Alicia did what she always does in stressful situations, she threw up, repeatedly. And then she noticed that the throw up was pink and then red ...
I had stayed up all night to be on hand for any emergency, but she thought I was sleeping so didn't even come get me - drove herself to the emergency room. The doctor thinks she might have an ulcer and the throwing up she has been doing just scratched her throat. The doctor in the ER today is an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Justin called the goat lady early this morning, she was heartbroken too. she really loved Gretta and wants to trade one of Gretta's nanny babies for the billy Alicia and Justin want. She had lots of frozen colostrum and 4 gallons of milk and some milk replacement. There wasn't any at the feed store when Alicia went yesterday to stock up, so we were lucky she had some extra.
thanks for the info, Carol. Everybody told us they had to be fed every 2 hours and had to be on colostrum for at least 3 days and stuff that just isn't possible - so your help is very calming. I read your post to Alicia in the Er and she was very relieved.
Anchor Point Chamber has this huge fishing tournament that was scheduled for today so the whole time Alicia was up with the goats and being sick, she was worried about what to do about the giant tournament and all the miles of boats they had to launch today. But the weather started out bad so they are having it tomorrow instead. so she can come home and rest when she gets done at the pharmacy.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Birth Day
This is Alicia's story, but she has to go to work so I'll tell the beginning.
Alicia started to leave for work this morning and heard a new bleat from the goat barn - she went in and Gretta had given birth sometime this morning. the kids were all dry by the time Alicia found them so they are several hours old. She found one outside that was really cold so she and I took turns warming it up and then Ruthie came over and taught that one how to nurse and then Alicia taught the others and then Gretta started paying more attention and was nuzzling and licking them all.
when we first went in, she was just standing there sort of in shock - like "WHAT JUST HAPPENED ? ? ? " But after we worked with her a bit, she picked it right back up again and was doing her job. this is her third litter we think - first one for us - so she probably knows more about what to do than we do.
Anyway - we took pictures which Alicia will post tonight. We have 3 girls and 1 boy. Their names are from Desperate Housewives: Bree, Susan, and Edie. Ben wanted us to name one of the goats after him, but we are sort of planning to eat the boy goat, so Ben should let us know if he still wants us to name it after him.
Alicia started to leave for work this morning and heard a new bleat from the goat barn - she went in and Gretta had given birth sometime this morning. the kids were all dry by the time Alicia found them so they are several hours old. She found one outside that was really cold so she and I took turns warming it up and then Ruthie came over and taught that one how to nurse and then Alicia taught the others and then Gretta started paying more attention and was nuzzling and licking them all.
when we first went in, she was just standing there sort of in shock - like "WHAT JUST HAPPENED ? ? ? " But after we worked with her a bit, she picked it right back up again and was doing her job. this is her third litter we think - first one for us - so she probably knows more about what to do than we do.
Anyway - we took pictures which Alicia will post tonight. We have 3 girls and 1 boy. Their names are from Desperate Housewives: Bree, Susan, and Edie. Ben wanted us to name one of the goats after him, but we are sort of planning to eat the boy goat, so Ben should let us know if he still wants us to name it after him.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Ready to blow
Mt. Redoubt is getting ready to blow again. For the past month, it has been building a lava dome, but on Saturday, the dome began to become unstable and they expect a major explosive event any minute now.
You can follow on the website, as always. Check out the webcorder labeled RSO - it is right at the summit and it is really going crazy with the rat-a-tat rat-a-tat .
You can follow on the website, as always. Check out the webcorder labeled RSO - it is right at the summit and it is really going crazy with the rat-a-tat rat-a-tat .
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Today's progress
Today was a major day of progress for Anchor Point Enterprises. They got the office / house and the separate bunk house both moved to the beach and Justin's family are all settled in down there for the summer. They have been with us since the day after Easter.
The second skidder was brought down from Anchorage today so they are both here. I think the first skidder has been retrofitted and is ready to work. Justin is going down to the beach at low tide (that's at 1 am tonight) to clear the rocks out of the launch path while there isn't anyone down there.
He has some welding to do on the second skidder and has to waterproof the alternators.
You have to love living in a small town. They got the second house down to the beach about 5:00 and around 6:00 a woman from the Mexican food bus was down there to see if they had a job for her son. We hope they will hire him. Besides being good people, her son has worked there for 3 years so has the advantage over the rest of our crew - 99% of whom have probably not even been in the ocean before - of actually knowing what he is doing and could train the rest of the troops.
The house is very quiet. We aren't sure that we don't have the swine flu. Clarks spent two weeks the end of March with their family from Texas and as soon as they got here, everyone got sick with coughing and fever and headache and occasional diarrhea... just like in the news reports. We have passed it back and forth a couple times.. nothing serious, more just annoying. Plus for those of you who don't have Facebook yet, I slipped into a serious Lupus flare about a week ago... wolf bite on my face and arms even- which I haven't had for almost 10 years. Before Brian noticed the splotching I cried for several days and just kept going back to bed and asking, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME ?? ? ? Over and over in a somewhat pathetic and whiny voice.
Brian recognized the wolf bite on my arm before we recognized it on my face and then we all just took a relaxing breath and said, OKAY, we know how to take care of this. Actually, at first we couldn't remember, but it came back very quickly. Mainly, I have about 10 minutes of activity and then 30 minutes of rest. All day long. back and forth... but it is okay because in that 10 minutes I'm up I can do lots of stuff. I think mainly because I know it will be for a very short time so I can get something done - knowing that a rest period is scheduled and I won't need to save my energy for something later in the day.
Love you all, Charlotte
The second skidder was brought down from Anchorage today so they are both here. I think the first skidder has been retrofitted and is ready to work. Justin is going down to the beach at low tide (that's at 1 am tonight) to clear the rocks out of the launch path while there isn't anyone down there.
He has some welding to do on the second skidder and has to waterproof the alternators.
You have to love living in a small town. They got the second house down to the beach about 5:00 and around 6:00 a woman from the Mexican food bus was down there to see if they had a job for her son. We hope they will hire him. Besides being good people, her son has worked there for 3 years so has the advantage over the rest of our crew - 99% of whom have probably not even been in the ocean before - of actually knowing what he is doing and could train the rest of the troops.
The house is very quiet. We aren't sure that we don't have the swine flu. Clarks spent two weeks the end of March with their family from Texas and as soon as they got here, everyone got sick with coughing and fever and headache and occasional diarrhea... just like in the news reports. We have passed it back and forth a couple times.. nothing serious, more just annoying. Plus for those of you who don't have Facebook yet, I slipped into a serious Lupus flare about a week ago... wolf bite on my face and arms even- which I haven't had for almost 10 years. Before Brian noticed the splotching I cried for several days and just kept going back to bed and asking, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME ?? ? ? Over and over in a somewhat pathetic and whiny voice.
Brian recognized the wolf bite on my arm before we recognized it on my face and then we all just took a relaxing breath and said, OKAY, we know how to take care of this. Actually, at first we couldn't remember, but it came back very quickly. Mainly, I have about 10 minutes of activity and then 30 minutes of rest. All day long. back and forth... but it is okay because in that 10 minutes I'm up I can do lots of stuff. I think mainly because I know it will be for a very short time so I can get something done - knowing that a rest period is scheduled and I won't need to save my energy for something later in the day.
Love you all, Charlotte
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Can't decide which to do
1. So I couldn't understand how everyone was exchanging information and pictures but not blogging so this week Alicia set me up on Facebook and now I get it. It is like being inside the brain of everyone you know - all at once. It was a little overwhelming at first, but now even Brian checks it every night to see what went on in our circle of friends. So I don't understand how people, like Joanna, keep both Facebook and the blog up to date. It is beyond my abilities at this time. Of course, there is still lots about Facebook that I don't get.
If you are on Facebook and don't have us as a friend, but want to - just do a search for my name and there I'll be.
2. Happy Birthday Blake.
3. Just an update on the volcano ash. It is EVERYWHERE. It is very fine and is filling my house. The dogs play outside all day with Justin's family and then come in all wet and full of ash. Of course when they dry off, the ash just falls wherever. You can see it rising out of the carpets and on every surface in the house. It's all gritty and impossible to clean up. (well, in the dog's defence the cat does the same thing but he is smaller and just goes out once and comes back in the morning so the main place he deposits wet ash is on Brian's pillow - he comes in when Brian leaves for work, so the pillow is all dried out by the time Brian needs it at night).
A friend in Homer started gardening this week and said she had to wear a mask the whole time because as she dug the ash got all stirred up and airborne and then it was really warm and she got all sweaty and the ash started clinging to her and she was completely miserable.
So i'll probably be letting the flower bed go au-natural this summer. We'll get the ash tilled into the garden in a few weeks and then won't have to deal with it, I hope. Except the webcorders at the volcano are making that little rat-a-tat thing that they do just before the thing blows up again. We are thinking about getting the greenhouse going, but the temps in there are still fluctuating too much for seedlings so we have to wait just a bit.
4. Justin and Alicia scraped up the money they needed for the downpayments and will open their boat launch business on the first of May. Please keep them in your prayers. It's going to be a long summer.
If you are on Facebook and don't have us as a friend, but want to - just do a search for my name and there I'll be.
2. Happy Birthday Blake.
3. Just an update on the volcano ash. It is EVERYWHERE. It is very fine and is filling my house. The dogs play outside all day with Justin's family and then come in all wet and full of ash. Of course when they dry off, the ash just falls wherever. You can see it rising out of the carpets and on every surface in the house. It's all gritty and impossible to clean up. (well, in the dog's defence the cat does the same thing but he is smaller and just goes out once and comes back in the morning so the main place he deposits wet ash is on Brian's pillow - he comes in when Brian leaves for work, so the pillow is all dried out by the time Brian needs it at night).
A friend in Homer started gardening this week and said she had to wear a mask the whole time because as she dug the ash got all stirred up and airborne and then it was really warm and she got all sweaty and the ash started clinging to her and she was completely miserable.
So i'll probably be letting the flower bed go au-natural this summer. We'll get the ash tilled into the garden in a few weeks and then won't have to deal with it, I hope. Except the webcorders at the volcano are making that little rat-a-tat thing that they do just before the thing blows up again. We are thinking about getting the greenhouse going, but the temps in there are still fluctuating too much for seedlings so we have to wait just a bit.
4. Justin and Alicia scraped up the money they needed for the downpayments and will open their boat launch business on the first of May. Please keep them in your prayers. It's going to be a long summer.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Boy is our face RED ! ! !
Well, I feel really ignorant, but it turns out there really are ash holes.
Here in Alaska, on a sunny day in the winter, the sun shines but it is sooooooooooo far away that it doesn't heat and melt the snow. It is so disappointing to go out on a sunny afternoon and find out that the ice is now polished and slicker, but not melted at all.
Now, it turns out, the ash really does absorb the heat of the sun faster than the snow does so everywhere is covered in pits as the sun shines down and warms the ash and it melts the snow beneath the ash, but not the snow that isn't under the ash.
We had to drive to town today and it was amazing to see all the "streams and riverlets" flowing beside the roads and driveways and down hillsides. The ash is melting the snow underneath it - I'm really glad we don't live at the bottom of a hill or creek. (Worried about you, Maxine and Ray).
The river, of course, is still frozen solid so all this water really has no place to go. There is a giant lake forming on the highway by Diamond Ridge road.
We are all completely fine and not in any danger from the volcano at all. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. I am totally in my element as those who knew me as a child can attest too. What a science project I could have made. hehehe
As for the surgery, we are still on hold. Looking for surgeons and a hospital. In the end, we might have to go to Seattle or the Mayo clinic, but we are still hoping to have it done closer to home. Tired of doctor appointments and scared because of Mark's surgery that they will find the same in me, but I've had a couple really thorough conversations with my two doctors that I really trust and they are convinced that I don't have rampant cancer and that we have plenty of time to find doctors who are comfortable operating on me.
I have let myself get really down over this, but there was an excellent talk at conference that letting ourselves feel despair is one of the first steps that Satan uses to get us to doubt the Lord and start the journey away from the safety of the Savior so I am more determined to recognize that when I start to feel despair, it is time to hit my scriptures and then my knees (or vice versa).
Love you guys - and again, watch out for ASH HOLES - they really do exist and they are everywhere. hahahaha
Here in Alaska, on a sunny day in the winter, the sun shines but it is sooooooooooo far away that it doesn't heat and melt the snow. It is so disappointing to go out on a sunny afternoon and find out that the ice is now polished and slicker, but not melted at all.
Now, it turns out, the ash really does absorb the heat of the sun faster than the snow does so everywhere is covered in pits as the sun shines down and warms the ash and it melts the snow beneath the ash, but not the snow that isn't under the ash.
We had to drive to town today and it was amazing to see all the "streams and riverlets" flowing beside the roads and driveways and down hillsides. The ash is melting the snow underneath it - I'm really glad we don't live at the bottom of a hill or creek. (Worried about you, Maxine and Ray).
The river, of course, is still frozen solid so all this water really has no place to go. There is a giant lake forming on the highway by Diamond Ridge road.
We are all completely fine and not in any danger from the volcano at all. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. I am totally in my element as those who knew me as a child can attest too. What a science project I could have made. hehehe
As for the surgery, we are still on hold. Looking for surgeons and a hospital. In the end, we might have to go to Seattle or the Mayo clinic, but we are still hoping to have it done closer to home. Tired of doctor appointments and scared because of Mark's surgery that they will find the same in me, but I've had a couple really thorough conversations with my two doctors that I really trust and they are convinced that I don't have rampant cancer and that we have plenty of time to find doctors who are comfortable operating on me.
I have let myself get really down over this, but there was an excellent talk at conference that letting ourselves feel despair is one of the first steps that Satan uses to get us to doubt the Lord and start the journey away from the safety of the Savior so I am more determined to recognize that when I start to feel despair, it is time to hit my scriptures and then my knees (or vice versa).
Love you guys - and again, watch out for ASH HOLES - they really do exist and they are everywhere. hahahaha
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Inside a Volcano
This is a government picture we got off the AVO website - it is a radar picture of the ash cloud an hour after Redoubt erupted. Last time it erupted, the ash took almost 6 hours to reach us - this time it was here before the AVO have even announced the explosion. Isn't this a cool photo? we live sort of right in the middle of the cloud just about 1/8 inch north of where the road jigs west. The volcano quieted down and showed signs of a lava dome building. On the monitors, there were these perfectly timed little blips - looked like goblins hammering in unison for 24 hours. When we went to bed, Alicia looked at those rhythmic blips and said, it's gonna blow.
We woke early this morning to the dogs barking their heads off. Our dogs are very well behaved and don't just randomly bark. Alicia could hear what sounded like footsteps on the stairs and porch and the dogs kept barking and she thought, OH NO, we are being robbed. So she opened her window and looked out and there was this black black cloud coming from the volcano and tons of thunder. We never get thunder here - it is one of the anamolies of living here. We have thunder maybe once every three or 4 years... usually just one clap, maybe two. Never a long term thunder and lightning storm. So these dogs who have lived here all their lives have never experienced a thunder storm before.
anyway, we all got up and every once in a while we could see the orange lightning like in the pictures from last week and we heard lots of thunder. It was really spooky. The cloud was much darker and quicker than last week. Daytime had just arrived and then it went dark as midnight. I mean DARK ! ! ! And then the ash started falling.
On the NOAA radar, which we usually use to track storm clouds, we can sometimes track the volcano and today, the weather radar showed the ash cloud coming straight from the volcano to OUR HOUSE ! ! ! We were the very first hit (I think most of you know that we live on the bluff of the point of Anchor Point - we are like the actual most westerly highway point in America) so lots of times our neighborhood gets storms and winds and stuff before anybody else on the mainland.
So it lasted about an hour - just black as night. We got a call from Homer that they were cancelling conference at the church and it was still daylight there and when Brian told her that it was black as night here and ash was falling - it scared her and she hung up to prepare.
It was also surreal because we could click on the pictures from the webcams that are on the north side of the volcano and while we were sitting here in darkest darkness, the webcams were in broad daylight on the other side of the volcano.
the cloud moved fairly quickly and then it was just yellow and brown in the sky - I'm sure people who grew up in Kansas and Texas were looking for a storm cellar, because it was that heavy, yellow that is so scary if you have lived in tornado country. The tail of the cloud was lit from the bottom by daylight, so the horizon was divided in three parts - the grey earth that was completely covered with 1/4 to 1/2 inch ash, then the daylight, then the yellow and brown of the cloud.
It was so cool.
the ash today was actually loud as it hit - meaning the other day, it was very soft ash and this ash was the lava dome all smashed to pieces and it was much more little pieces of rock.
The Homer News actually has a story from today with pics from Homer - they only publish the paper once a week, but have this story from this morning on there if you want to read it. The cars at the end of the story belong to our friends Heather and Trace in their car rental business. If you ever need a car in Homer you should rent from them - Adventure Alaska.
We have pictures, but I don't know if they can even begin to vaguely show you what it was like. We'll post them later.
We woke early this morning to the dogs barking their heads off. Our dogs are very well behaved and don't just randomly bark. Alicia could hear what sounded like footsteps on the stairs and porch and the dogs kept barking and she thought, OH NO, we are being robbed. So she opened her window and looked out and there was this black black cloud coming from the volcano and tons of thunder. We never get thunder here - it is one of the anamolies of living here. We have thunder maybe once every three or 4 years... usually just one clap, maybe two. Never a long term thunder and lightning storm. So these dogs who have lived here all their lives have never experienced a thunder storm before.
anyway, we all got up and every once in a while we could see the orange lightning like in the pictures from last week and we heard lots of thunder. It was really spooky. The cloud was much darker and quicker than last week. Daytime had just arrived and then it went dark as midnight. I mean DARK ! ! ! And then the ash started falling.
On the NOAA radar, which we usually use to track storm clouds, we can sometimes track the volcano and today, the weather radar showed the ash cloud coming straight from the volcano to OUR HOUSE ! ! ! We were the very first hit (I think most of you know that we live on the bluff of the point of Anchor Point - we are like the actual most westerly highway point in America) so lots of times our neighborhood gets storms and winds and stuff before anybody else on the mainland.
So it lasted about an hour - just black as night. We got a call from Homer that they were cancelling conference at the church and it was still daylight there and when Brian told her that it was black as night here and ash was falling - it scared her and she hung up to prepare.
It was also surreal because we could click on the pictures from the webcams that are on the north side of the volcano and while we were sitting here in darkest darkness, the webcams were in broad daylight on the other side of the volcano.
the cloud moved fairly quickly and then it was just yellow and brown in the sky - I'm sure people who grew up in Kansas and Texas were looking for a storm cellar, because it was that heavy, yellow that is so scary if you have lived in tornado country. The tail of the cloud was lit from the bottom by daylight, so the horizon was divided in three parts - the grey earth that was completely covered with 1/4 to 1/2 inch ash, then the daylight, then the yellow and brown of the cloud.
It was so cool.
the ash today was actually loud as it hit - meaning the other day, it was very soft ash and this ash was the lava dome all smashed to pieces and it was much more little pieces of rock.
The Homer News actually has a story from today with pics from Homer - they only publish the paper once a week, but have this story from this morning on there if you want to read it. The cars at the end of the story belong to our friends Heather and Trace in their car rental business. If you ever need a car in Homer you should rent from them - Adventure Alaska.
We have pictures, but I don't know if they can even begin to vaguely show you what it was like. We'll post them later.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
lightning pics
there is lightning that occurs at the summit when the volcano explodes, but until now, no one has been able to photograph it.
Yesterday evening a photographer captured some absolutely breathtaking photos of the lightning. The pictures look like you would traditionally think a volcano explosion would look like, but instead of lava, the light is lightning.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/recent_images.php
Yesterday evening a photographer captured some absolutely breathtaking photos of the lightning. The pictures look like you would traditionally think a volcano explosion would look like, but instead of lava, the light is lightning.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/recent_images.php
Friday, March 27, 2009
Volcano pics
Be sure to go to Alicia's blog for the pictures and story of the volcano dumping on us yesterday. She put up a couple digital scrap book pages today and yesterday, she put up dozens of pictures of the cloud coming and of the snow before and after the ash. It is really fascinating.
What you don't see in the pictures is the smell. Like sulfur, of course, but much much stronger and it had something else in it too. I didn't expect to get volcano gases this far away so that was a curious surprise. We love things science. It is great fun.
What you don't see in the pictures is the smell. Like sulfur, of course, but much much stronger and it had something else in it too. I didn't expect to get volcano gases this far away so that was a curious surprise. We love things science. It is great fun.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Attn: Moms with little kids
my niece always finds the greatest stuff for kids to do during conference - you can find the link on her blog to the right - it is "Joanna, Cory, Gabe and Hunter".
The post about conference was down aways but well worth the trip if you have little ones to entertain. Just be sure to have a full pack of crayons. My nephew Jed had a disaster at his house when President Monson was named prophet because they were missing the color of his tie. Just be forewarned and prepared.
The post about conference was down aways but well worth the trip if you have little ones to entertain. Just be sure to have a full pack of crayons. My nephew Jed had a disaster at his house when President Monson was named prophet because they were missing the color of his tie. Just be forewarned and prepared.
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