Am I Allowed?

...To brag just a little bit? Our oldest son, Klint, our 4th child, (Shown here with grandson, AJ.) showed up in this news article that I want to share here today. The topic is an interesting one. Ghostnets. High seas fishing nets that have been discarded and abandoned. Humongous fishing nets that float around our oceans and mess with our oceans eco-systems! Klint builds the bouys where he works -Airborne Technologies, Inc. The finished bouys are attached to these huge, killing seines as they are found. They can then be tracked by satellite and computer, located by ship, picked up and removed. If they are left out there they will continue to kill fish, seals, waterfowl and other sea animals that will get trapped in them as the nets ghost about the oceans, many times for years and years and years..... Just think of all the little critters (most likely big critters too) that have already been killed by this hazard! Read about it here. Good job on the job... Klint! Hip, hip hooray to Airborne Technologies, Inc. too and all that are also involved to remove these nets! I should get some sort of compensation for the links to the .... just a joke!!!!!

Posting Images!

Hey! Now that I downloaded and installed the Hello program.... we can use the New Post to post pictures! Well then............. cool! This is one of our four grandsons, AJ. He is two years old and he has a cousin that is the same age, they were even born on the same day! I just had to try this new feature to see how it works. It works great!

Building Summer Memories

Memory My mind lets go a thousand things, Like dates of wars and deaths of kings, And yet recalls the very hour---- 'Twas noon by yonder village tower, And on the last blue moon in May--- The wind came briskly up this way, Crisping the brook beside the road; Then, pausing here, set down its load of pine-scents, and shook listlessly Two petals from that wild-rose tree. -Thomas Bailey Aldrich Building 2005 summer memories on Twin Lake. We have been enjoying the summer and spent the last few days outside, cooking and splashing in the water. I've had hamburgers, potato salad, yummi desserts and even a yucky ol' beetle on myself (Which Calli rescued me from!). Summer time is fleeting.... get out and enjoy it!

June 21st - Longest Day of the Year

Moon last night above my neighbors shop/home. It was very red. I was working on a website and when I was done I was talking to ChewChew, doing what is becoming a nightly ritual. Time for bed, little guy. (I have been putting him into a pet carrier each night since he was a pup.) He looks at me like, already??? Yup, then I picked him up and carried him to bed when I looked out the window and saw the moon. Very red, which means... smoke. My daughter told me there are fires on Yukon somewhere. I don't know, I have not listened to the news in a long, long time. I peeked into my daughters room this morning and she was watching the news and looks like nothing is new... for being "New". Everything is old, nothing is new. BUT... got a laugh when they showed a deer that somehow ended up in a store. Funny guy was running down one of the aisle, maybe looking for some new fangled packaged deer snacks. June 21st has always been a bit of a sad day to me since we make a turn back towards the long, dark days of winter..... its hard to shake the feeling --- even when I walk outside in the bright, warm sun. Hey! It's still summer inAlaska. It's summer! The lake is not frozen, the birds are still busy here... but look at the fireweed. hmmm The picture looks like it needs a howling husky in it.... speaking of howling huskies!!!! A fun event with lots of gospel singing will be going on July 30 -31st in Palmer. Outdoors. Lots of good food like... friend bread, salmon chowder, Indian tacos..... great company!!! If you are at all interested Check it out!

Butterflies & Lilac Trees

The butterflies are super busy right now. They are so pretty. Thought you would enjoy seeing this new picture. My daughter Marie was sharing pictures with me about a nasty, ugly bug that is attacking Aspen trees in the area and they are gross especially when they build webs around trees that they are devouring while they are grubs. It seems that Alaska is seeing a lot of strange bugs in the last few years and I wonder if that is because winters have been shorter and milder? Maybe less snow? I don't know but seeing strange bugs makes me want to stay inside the house all the time.... until a wasp comes in then I feel like runnning outside! Yep, I am a 'fraidy cat when it comes to bugs! But.... butterflies are so pretty. The first time we looked at ths property that we live on, these butterflies were flitting here and there. I will never forget that.

Happy Father's Day

My husband is away from home but the internet allows us to have daily contact and even share pictures like this. Happy Father's Day to a great Dad! My own Dad passed on to Heaven in 1987 and I sure miss him. Some days the loss of him is stronger than other days, but I know that someday we will see each other again. He always used to say: "Christ in me, the hope of Glory". Dad was a Russian Orthodox lay reader. He used to sit and read the church books in Russian. He did not speak Russian, but could read it. My Mom became familiar with the Bible while she was away from the village and attended another church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where her fathers family lived. As a result, after years of struggle, Dad decided that he would not be a lay reader anymore or attend the RO church. His change came from one of the ten commandments that says, "thou shalt not have any graven images...." Just a little history with my Dad's day post. This picture is of the hammock stand the kids went together to buy for their Dad and I added the hammock to the deal and now we are waiting for him to come back home and get into it!

$500.00????

My daughter who does wedding consulting and decorating, asked me to create a bracelet that would work as a gift for the guests. So I was surfing to find information about the Tlingket's in Southeast Alaska and ideas for a design. I found this article on the way and thought it was a good addition to sharing Alaska here. The story is about this 60 foot tall totem pole that was stolen from Fort Tongass in 1899 and then unveiled in Seattle!

"The Indians were all away fishing, except for one who stayed in his house and looked scared to death. We picked out the best looking totem pole... I took a couple of sailors ashore and we chopped it down - just like you'd chop down a tree. It was too big to roll down the beach, so we sawed it in two."

That is maddening. They did not even pay the price the village asked for! Read the Story Here.

For My Son's Wife, Calli

Necklace I just made and plan to give it to Calli. Hopefully she will like it and wear it. It is made with seed beads and is a called a net necklace. I think I am having way too much fun with the picture posting stuff. I hope you all enjoy it.

Guitar Strap for Doug

The beadwork I am doing right now is going to keep me busy a long time. I decided to make a strap for my husband, Doug. He plays bass guitar for Alaska Freedom Band here in Alaska. They travel to different villages throughout Alaska and have meetings. Singing and giving testimonies about how Jesus Christ has made a difference in their hearts and then in their lives. Strengthening other Christian's who don't get to meet in larger groups and especially share in music. They do a good job. Sometimes I get to tag along and bring my little camera to share pictures at their website. Their website. If was was always in a village without much fellowship I know I would love to spend several evenings listening to a group like AFB share. My sister Kotya, showed me how to bead several months ago and I have turned into a beading monster! I think I might love beads more than cookies now! Anyway, I wanted to show you how this Alaskan plans to spend a lot of long, dark days keeping happy in Alaska!

Bloomin' Lilies

The lily pads are blooming even though you can't see them in this picture. The mosquitoes are bad in Southcentral Alaska this year! I don't know about the rest of Alaska...

This is ChewChew

Our little dog, ChewChew. He is about a year old now. He didn't mind the mosquitoes!

Our Dog Chevy

This is our big dog, Chevy. He has a good life here in Alaska. The trouble he seems to have is when he digs in his owners garden! He has 13 acres he is free to roam, yet he always finds my garden to be the best place to bury his "stuff"! His stuff is usually my sons and his wife's tenny shoes, leather gloves... and snack bones I try to give him! Here he is looking for the neighborhood beavers, muskrats, loons and ducks. I just downloaded and installed the Hello program. I am hoping it will make it easier to view pictures I share for everyone.

Summer Solstice

I can't believe that it is almost June 21st. The most depressing day of my year! Even if it is still summer here, I know the days are going to begin to lose daylight... and that is what depresses me. Does it do that to anyone else? Being a Grandparent. I was thinking about this. My oldest brother Don and his wife Edna became first time grandparents on June 14. Little boy. "what a miracle" he said. It truely is. Life goes on, how long only God knows. Each child that comes along is special. I am thankful to live in a Country where we can pursue prosperity for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. Many other countries, the children are not so blessed. I realize even in USA many little ones suffer too. But, if parents and grandparents have their heads screwed on right, most kids fare well in this wonderful free (?) United States of America. America's values were established by Men and Women who had more knowledge of God, the God who created this Universe. They lived lives to honor Him, so USA prospered. Not so sure today whats up with a lot of new laws and rules. No one can "see" unless God allows them to see. I am more and more taught by God that I need to be more in prayer for these special, wonderful additions to our lives. Enough rambling on that. It is summer... it is sunny and I can choose to be happy, because He loves me and He loves my grandbabies more than I know! .... and yours too!

eRadio

I love listening to this radio station. Good gospel music with lots of old country tunes. Listen to it, you might like it too. WPIL - Radio with a difference!

It's summer!

Even if the calendar does not agree I must say it's summertime in Alaska. Gotta say so early, or it will be over and fall by the time it gets here on the calendar! I took this picture of Anchorage from the Hillside. Nice day and Sleeping Lady is beautiful! My sister sent me a note of her blog and thought I would check on this one again. Nobody's been here... dusting the room....... The wild roses have already been blooming for almost two weeks! The swallows came very early this year. The fireweed is already getting close to blooming... this is going way, way too fast!