Visitors guide.

the new Fairbanks visitors for 2010 published just hours ago

http://ow.ly/K509

Take a look. I think its amazing.

thanksgiving my house

here we are again with my fine china getting used. I recently bought the serving dish in the middle i made some real fine corn bread. i might have to do it again.

Got everything organized and had the usual too much food. Yes there is still some turkey in the fridge. my orange and Avocado Salad was a hit again. And Amy's Sweet potatoes are still just wonderful.

Charlotte whose 2 1/2 wanted pumpkin pie, there was more pie all over that place . it was so funny. but I am not sure what Mom thought.

Charlotte always has a wonderful time at my place and doesn't want to go home. It was a good day and lots to be thankful for, my friends as always.

Ginger

if i really dont get to eat it all i can just candy itI have always liked ginger, crystallized ginger to me is comfort food. it goes really well with a glass of milk and chocolate. preferably all in your mouth at the same time.

The other week I went out with friends to an Asian restaurant, where the decoration on the plate was shaved ginger. so i ate it, and most of the ginger on friends plate as well.

then last weekend i was in the store and i saw ginger root - fresh stuff. Now I have mostly preserved stuff, anyway thought i would give it a try. Didn't know what much to do with ginger root. but that is what google is for. I didn't know how long it was going to keep.

it keeps 3 weeks in the fridge. so now i have to eat lots of ginger. dammed if i am going to waste it. I had a couple of shavings in a salad- its goood. Then I read about grated ginger, so I put some in a lemon and honey drink. spicy. Hell ginger is a spice.

tonight i cooked several slices in a stew. it was just fine but I could have put more in.

and now i sit here with another lemon and honey drink ( good for the immune system so i don't get sick- is my excuse) with some more ginger in it - of course.

if i really don't get to eat it all I can just candy it.

November 2nd

November 2nd.

The almanac in the paper today says that the sun rises at 8 45 am and sets at 5 30 ish, that means it nearly dark when I get home and its still trying to get light on the way to work. I know its close to the same amount of light we had last week. but we droped daylight savings with week. and winter is here.

there is 7 weeks till the shortest day and daylight is still dropping at 7 minutes a day, so we have 14 weeks to the the light back to where it is now. the temp dropped this week rather suddenly. it was about 5 this morning and some places talking with - signs.

BUT. I got a whole bunch done today regardless of the dark. did a dump run after work. plugged in the Christmas lights to make sure they are working.( i might have to go buy some more. they are not as green as they used to be , they are looking white.) had dinner and got my homework assignment done all before 7 30. so at 8 I went to dance class.

learning to dance is soooo much fun. American tango 2. You have to go out and do stuff regardless of the weather, otherwise it becomes a bitch real fast. Winter comes whether we like it or not.

Vacation

It's done, I have just booked my tickets to go on holiday/ vacation. I am going to Charlotte to see my sister in law Kerry. we are going to Charlotte and Charleston. this will be in February.

Kerry is actually lives in Australia, and i haven't seen her in 4 years,( i think ) one of her kids I haven't seen. and this is the first vacation i have taken with someone else since i was married.

I am a happy camper there is a smile on my face.

it will be warm down there. Well compared to here.

Education of me.

Some of you may know that i have been doing some study , for the first time in 20ish years.

this autumn i have been doing accounting 101. cause its kinda similar to my work, i have been saying i was going to do this for um ....3 years.

well I started this fall and last week we had our midterms. i was very nervous. cause it s been a long time since I have done any study. you know how it goes, .. take your time and red things carefully. .... so guess what grade i got on my midterm ????

I got 100%

so I need some bragging rights.

now i need to get over this and do the next homework assignment.

In the meantime here in Fairbanks. its snowing today, about time it was kinda late. we have about 1 inch and its still snowing. Tomorrow is going to be hell.

Old Country Roses

Once again i have been online shopping. there was a new release for some bake ware from Old country roses. and we in Alaska, just got our PFD's ( permanent fund dividend.. Google it)
so in the mail today i got some more stuff. the little round one is a bit smaller than i thought. the 3 of then ran $130 with free shipping there is no gold trim but that is so they will go in the oven and maybe in the microwave. Last year i bought the vase and the t pot set. not sure what Iwill get next . i think i am nearly done with the set that i want. they had some really nice mugs but they too them of the market.
next week sometime i get to have some Pampered chief stuff arrive. just adding to my dishes so I can take it all home.

Caribou Heart

Long time ago, way back in August, a friend of mine went Caribou hunting, and remembered that I like the extra bits. So kept me the heart, we cleaned it all out. he 's a good shot -- Strait though the heart, and I stuffed it. . just the usual stuffing stuff. breadcrumbs onion celery parsley, fresh from the garden and I think some rosemary( fresh from the garden)

then with a red wine base, it was slow roasted, ( don't ask me what temperature, it was way back in August) then with some fresh broccoli i had dinner.

I grew up on this stuff , heart was always good eating.

chena hot springs

A couple of weeks ago i got to go with a friend out to Chena Hot
Springs for a well derseved soak.
No i dont take any photos in the pool , just on the drive out, this was sept 19 it was an amazing drive , cloudy day and some rain sprinkles.
this is the only pictures you get of the fall this year, cause the leaves are now all gone.

That four letter word

This is just your friendly reminder that we live in Fairbanks and that we get rapid changes in weather, this means ... hold your breath , I really don't want to say it .... snow.

It was cloudy and rainy today and then there was this white stuff falling out of the sky in flakes that sat on the car windshield. it lasted maybe 1/2 an hour , but it was the first of the season and , up at a friends place on Ballane road it stayed on the ground.

so this evening i ran around and put away the hoses and cleaned the greenhouse. I still have some arctic chard, and put the chairs away in the garage. am i ready for the colder weather. um well i only have one job so that's good. I am making good progress on the smaller house projects.

so then i turned on the heat in the house.

I will catch up on posting other stuff soon....

the windows.. the final part

Matt redid the wiring where we had had to put it out, then he made me play with insulation and cut it and breath it all in, then there was the vapor barrier , since i didn't have one before. Matt came over again last Thursday while i was at work.
we decided on some maple trim , not sure how much extra this will cost , but i think it will look nice. there is still some insulation to push into the gaps , and then i have to varnish and polish the maple , to a nice sheen , but it is an inside job and can wait till after the summer is over and i have closed down the green house. then thee is carpet, lighting and a door.
But I am really pleased with how it came out, i think it looks good.. Thanks Matt

the windows continued

This is the frame they got to put it , it was bigger that the one we had got but that was because of the different foundation walls. they did a nice job of leveling out all the dirt. i think i have the water running in the right direction, Only next spring will tell.
I ran around like crazy and got the grass planted august 1 , ( there is a reason i haven't posted in forever) . when i got the invoice for the balance of the work i noticed they had forgotten the lid. its looks dam nice and it will stop 99 % of the rain / snow from getting in and freezing next spring.
then inside took quite a bit of work as well. Matt just foamed it in to start with , then he came over and sealed it all properly, and then he gave me projects to complete. i had to cut all the insulation out and put in the Styrofoam you see shiny . all the while working m 14 hour days. yes i found time , i am not sure where.
Matt finished it off for me. Now what makes you think I know what I am doing with Sheetrock. Matt is a wonderful friend.

Caribou

Its fall, its hunting season. the local caribou heard hunting was open for 3 days this week, and my friend Don was lucky. i got invited to dinner, of fresh meat. I made the scalloped Potatoes, and some red wine and dinner was good.

The best part was that I got to bring home the heart, and a kidney. yes i like offal, its good stuff

so tomorrow i get to figure out how to fix stuffed heart. and maybe streak and kidney stew during the week.

I took some photos so maybe more next time.

Rafting grade 5 Hope, Alaska

I left Anchorage to drive to Hope, Nova rafting guides picked us up a the corner of Hope road. there is a swim test. this is grade 5 not for first timers. the water was 38 degrees. we have dry suits. longs johns 3 top layers and life jackets and helmets. The swim was about 100 yards including the floating in the dam cold water
we got to see a couple of juvenile bald eagles and a couple of adults passing by overhead. there are 2 canyons of grade 3/ 4, which is enough to flip some people out of the water. then a 2 mile float though some scenic stuff . there was a brief portage cause the boats got stuff, 10 years round some rocks , rivers low i guess. then some amazing grade 5 stuff, where you have to slide the boat fairly accurately though 2 rocks. if you miss it you high side and flip. Called an "out of boat"experience




So on the last rapid, we missed it, the 3 of us of the left of the raft just flipped out really fast.
the water went totally over my face. thank god for helmets, for I hit my head on something.
the front smaller girl was first back in, then the guy in the middle , i had to swim to stay with the raft, around a rock of some description (it all happened so fast) picked up some bruises on the legs the butt like 4 or 5. and was bodily hauled back in by the life vest. what a blast.! great adrenaline rush. I was probably out of the boat about 1 minute maybe
On the float round a couple of corners to the take out spot we saw lots of pink salmon. and jumping everywhere, cruising up the shallow edges.




Sore neck , Sore shoulder, Sore butt, and back, and pulled some muscles in the front of my thighs. but dam that was the best. everything is all OK today Monday except for the bruises.
yeah i scored lucky

grade 4 rafting is for 8 years olds and grand ma's

I am addicted to white water rafting. !!!

Weekend in Anchorage

What is a girl to do for my birthday, I for one like to head to anchorage. so Friday afternoon i headed for anchorage. as soon as i cleared the first hill , the smoke cleared, and i could breath. a cloudy day and good driving. Pulled into anchorage, with my car doing 38 miles to the gallon. me and my camera had a great time.


I drove out to Hope along the Seward highway on Saturday morning for some grade 5 white water( photos yet to be sorted, will post separately) the drive is really cool , cloudy its still pretty amazing
The end of the hope road is 18 miles from the Seward turnoff. the fire weed is looking great
the bottom picture is what these people call a beach, the nearest beach to me currently( No lakes don't cut it for being called a beach, it has to be ocean)


Saturday afternoon was a BBQ with a bunch of kiwis and Aussies. good time was had with the usual too much food. not sure if it is polite to mention the game of Rugby, tri nation series between NZ, Australia and South Africa. the was a game on Saturday/ Friday ( time zone thing) that the guys wanted to watch between Aus and South Africa. 1/2 way though they decided to play some cricket. Ummm i don't think Aus was wining.
so there is a possibly that South Africa could win the Tri series.....

then on Sunday morning there was the shopping. No birthday is compete without some good shopping, towels , sheets and some clothes, 20 % cheaper than what was listed.

still a little tender from the white water rafting. but not as sore as I would expect considering. but you have to see the grin on my face... it was great fun.

the alaskan Prayer

I was out in a bar the other night and I saw this sign behind the bar

"Please God grant me one more pipeline. We promise not to piss it away this time."

It just tickled my fancy, and I thought I would share it.

windows part 2

Matt safely put my window in Saturday afternoon, with the help of a friend to lift it down to him. it was all level and no shims required. Matt gets all praise for good work.

Sunday i had to make out with the foam and fill in all the gaps Matt will come back later on in the week and do all the trim work

the guys from Groundhogs came back this morning and put in the window well, nice job .

I am guessing they will be back tomorrow morning to back fill
don't forget to take the label off.

i am taking this weekend off . all i am going to do is mow the lawn and weed the garden, then i am going to sit in the sun.

yup its still sunny. No sign of Rain yet.

Window Day 1

the bricks are all in strait lines. so who was the cheep shit who built this in 1958. cutting concrete does create lots of dust, but a friend suggested that i cover everything with sheets . everything electronic and anything that gets warm. that would be the boiler. Thank you to my friend.



Matt then spent the evening building a inset to bring the window out level with the house. it currently 1/2 built. Window should go in tomorrow. but this is how it looks right now

My Foundations

do you want to see my foundations, look what i got home to tonight.

i called to check in to day for the work tomorrow, and the Jennifer the office lady said there was a rumour that they may start work today , so i thought to go home briefly to check 0n things at 5 pm between jobs. and this is what i found. lots o dirt and a big hole.
does anyone want a digger? there is one in my back yard. and there is a hole in the ground

do you want to see my foundations. ?

do you see why my foundations leaked last year. holes in them bricks and the over hang. Can you see the smoke in the sunlight behind my shadow (smokey day) they had it all neatly dug out till i came along and stood too close to the edge. oops.

no surprises in the old back fill just what looks like very sandy soil.

more tomorrow.

House projects

this is the before photo. this pile of weeds is going to turn into a basement window well , next Friday, on Friday you can watch this space for more photos I hope. this will make my downstairs room into a bedroom, a window with legal exit.
What i have been working on in the last month is painting the garage: sanded the walls, mudded them and sanded again, fixed a couple of holes. and painted 2 coats of primer, to cover all the crap ( its a garage that 20 year old) and then my favorite color antique white on the walls.

as of today when this was taken, all I have left is one coat of antique white to go on the ceiling, maybe Friday , maybe one day during the week, subject to energy levels, and work.
here is the window that is to go in, and all junk that floats around.

Well then you will appreciate all the" after" photos when it all clean. Yes the shelf is heavy and i need to get someone else to help move it.

and other useless info . for a snack just now i have had freshly stewed rhubarb, with splendor. oh it s good. Next time i will try adding some wild raspberries, that are ready to eat.