Archive for February, 2009
Cough, cough, sniffle
Kat asked how we deal with things like colds when we can’t dash out and pick up some decongestant or cough suppressant. To some extent, we bring that stuff with us. Our medicine cabinet at home contains decongestant and ibuprofen, and that’s easy enough to bring along. We’re lucky to be generally healthy. We can’t [...]
Alaska’s Puzzle Bears
I got the PDF proof of Alaska’s Puzzle Bears (illustrated by Shannon Cartwright) from Taku Graphics. That’s the bear puzzle book I wrote last fall. I’m proofing today–and tomorrow. On first glance, I’m thrilled. It’s adorable! I’ve always been a fan of Shannon’s illustrations, so to have them combined with my puzzles is fantastic. Adele [...]
Spring
Oh no, not that kind of spring; we’ve got lots of winter left. Rather, we took a walk to a spring that runs nearby to see if it was still running and check the salinity of the water flowing from it. You can get there by kayak or canoe or overland on foot. Ice prevents [...]
Stitching for Literacy Update
The Monday “What have you done lately?” accountability post, where I announce my Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy program promotion goal for the week and fess up on last week’s goal. Due to having no internet connection for most of the past week, I did not accomplish as much as I had hoped. I’m [...]
Reflections
As far as I know, this is the only mirror currently in camp. I brought it with me. It’s 2.75 x 2.25 inches. Mike uses it to shave. I use it so I can see how many bars are illuminated on the modem without having to get up out of my chair. Two bars…we have [...]
Weekend Site-Seeing
Doris mentioned having a visit to Alaska on her bucket list, and she thought visiting Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge might fit the bill. Oh, yes, Doris, it certainly would! This is a dramatic and spectacular place, at any time of year and in any weather. Kenai Fjords National Park has been on my recommended “must-see-in-Alaska” [...]
High Tide
Earlier this week (on Monday, to be precise), we had the highest tide this place will see until December. So we checked it out. Not much of a beach to walk. A really high tide almost cuts off part of the peninsula, but not quite. The road to The Point is planned and plowed accordingly.
The Speeding Slinky
While helping Mike in one of the guest cabins, I spotted this slinky-like object speeding across the ice in the lagoon. It’s a river otter. River otters, like sea otters, are members of the weasel family, the mustelids. They are long, skinny, playful animals, like weasels and martens. When river otters travel across snow, they [...]
Signs
Look at this tree. See the scratches in the bark, upper left and lower right? Those were made by a black bear. If you will recall from last summer, this place is home to many black bears. They’re sleeping in snow-covered dens just now, but we still see signs of them. Scratching trees is one [...]
Making Doors
Mike’s current project is making the doors for the guest cabins. He glued together the individual boards of the doors last summer. I helped sand them. He’s routing out grooves for the hinges. Today he wanted help planing the boards for the door jambs. So I helped. I quickly exchanged my safety glasses for ski [...]
, by Ellen Ruppel Shell
, by Elizabeth Strout.
