Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

Nice Day Off Work

I took a vacation day from work today - so I got paid to work on my projects here at home - very cool!  Wish I could do that everyday...  oh well...  :o)

I made great progress on the chicken fence today.  I have all but one hole dug for the pier blocks that will be holding the posts.  That last one requires me to move the temporary fence.  I also finished painting the posts and lumber that I will use to build the fence - picked up a gallon of weatherproofing stain that was in the oops pile at Home Depot - great brown color and it was just $5!

This afternoon it started raining - real rain, not just sprinkles as it has been.  My poor holes are flooded right now!  I need to get the gutter on the chicken house and the rain barrel set up... one project at a time though!  I hope the rain lets up tomorrow morning so I can get out and work on the fence.

It was a little chilly in the house, so I built a fire and now it is all toasty warm.  I bought some Black Cherry Nectar at the store yesterday - organic and was about to expire, so it was on sale.  I used it to make two batches of jelly - got 8 12-oz jars.  They are on the counter right now cooling.  I really hope that they set up since the pectin I used said it is best by Nov 2006!  We will see...

5 Days Off Work - In A Row!! :o)

I am taking a long weekend...will be off work until Wednesday!  Yeah!!  So, what am I going to do with all this time?  I started tonight by picking up another order of sockeye salmon from a local fisherman - got 8 this week.  Brought them home and filleted them...1.5 hours...not too bad.  The fish were bigger this week - averaged 5.5 pounds of fillets per fish.  So they are all in the fridge cuz I'm tired!  Tomorrow I will can 4 fish - or however many fill up 14 jars.  The rest will be vacuum packed and frozen.  These will be smoked later in the summer and canned - when Rod gets back from Skagway.

I will be working on the chicken fence...so many holes to dig, so little time  :o)   Home Depot is open tomorrow, so I think I will buy the rest of the materials I need. 

I need to move the chicks out to the coop - they will be living in the storage area, separate from the adults.  I will put a light out there for them and they should be just fine.  I'm sure they will appreciate the extra space!  They are getting so big now!  I had switched them from newspaper to pine shavings last weekend and they are doing well with that - scratching it everywhere, but not eating it like I thought they would.  It does get in the waterer though, so I have to keep cleaning that out.  I'll have to make them a play area outside so they can be out while I'm working on the fence!

I also hope to work in the garden a bit - always things to do there.  The chickens do like slugs - I have picked some out of the garden and thrown them in the pen and they get gobbled up - cool!  Need to get more dirt and mound up the potatoes more.  I need to thin the rest of the onions.  The beet greens are ready to eat too!!

I'd like to work on my recipe binder - need to add recipes that have been judged as "keepers".

Most importantly, I will be getting enough sleep!  I have been having troubled getting to bed at a decent time - mostly because it stays light so late - the chickens don't even want to go to bed before 10pm!  So I will try to get myself on a better schedule.  Home Depot opens in the morning at 7am - I figure there won't be too many people there at that time!

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!!

Hmmm...

Deer in Yard and Garden is Planted

Rod caught a couple of deer in the yard and got some pictures.  This is only the second time I've seen them on the property.  I'm hoping this means they have rebounded from the bad winter we had last year and are plentiful again. 

Tonight I finished planting onions and potatoes in the garden.  So I am officially done planting, although I ended up with some extra plants.  The main garden has peas, potatoes in bins and in long raised bed, onions, beets, strawberries, raspberries and red currents.  Small raised beds have carrots, radishes, cabbage and zucchini.  Greenhouse has tomatoes and cucumbers.  I have some red onion plants, a few potatoes and a bunch of strawberry plants left to find a home for.

So the next priority is the chicken coop.  My friends will be coming over Saturday and leveling out the site of the coop so we can get to building.  So this week, I will purchase the rest of the lumber and supplies and have that all ready.  I really don't know how long it will take to build, but I plan to spend all weekend plus Monday on it...

I will be getting chicks tomorrow - 3 for now and 2 more next week.  We will have a Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Aracauna and 2 Buff Orphingtons.  You can bet I'll be posting pictures of the babies!

We worked more on our path project in the side yard yesterday and are done with one end of the pathway.  I've been thinking about what to do in the area that isn't path...fill with dirt and plant strawberries?  veggies?  berries?  It doesn't get lots and lots of sun, but it gets some, mostly afternoon.

Productive Weekend on the Homestead

We had a full weekend.  Yesterday I garage-saled, planted more onions, cleaned house a bit, went to town to get a couple things, then canned a batch of sloppy joe mix.

Today was pretty nice weather.  I slept in and didn't get up and going until after noon!  Rod and I worked on the pathway some more.  Then we cleaned up more around the utility shed - looking really good now.  I took Rod to work at 5:30 and I went to Fred Meyer and bought some flowers to plant next to the new pathway.  I got some petunias, snapdragons, salvia and lobelia.  I bought enough to plant in the 2 planters next to the driveway too and got those all in the ground tonight.  It was still light out, so I went ahead and worked in the greenhouse - worked in some compost and fertilizer.  I planted 8 tomatoes and 11 cucumbers and watered them in.  I hope they like their new home!

I was just thinking what all I have left to do in the garden....  I have about half the onions left to plant and two potato bins ready for potatoes.  I have another potato bin that had to be moved and I need to figure out where that one will go now - then it needs potatoes too.  That's about it for the veggie garden - all the beds will be full.  Of course if I had more planting room, I could always plant more...  I have a bunch of strawberry plants that need a home - thinking about next to our new pathway.

I have some canning to get done this week before Rod heads off to Skagway for two months.  We decided to do some chili, meat sauce, beef stew and beef barley soup.  I have all the ingredients, just have to get it done.

I will be buying my chicks this week - Wednesday I think is when they come in....  that will be really fun as they will be our first.  I also want to make progress on the chicken coop this week.  At least buy some more materials.  We have been working on getting the site ready by moving a bunch of dirt by hand, so it has been slow going.  At least we are getting good exercise though!  As soon as the dirt is moved, I can start building.

Hope everyone has a good week!

It is Spring, isn't it?

Just checking, since it started snowing a couple minutes ago - and it is sticking.  Guess I won't be doing much outside today!  That's okay though.  We worked outside yesterday for quite a bit.  Raked up leaves and got them into the compost pile and just straightened up all the things we didn't get to last fall.  I started cleaning up the garden area, but no digging yet as the ground is frozen right now. 

We spent yesterday morning visiting garage sales - I got 2 books on gardening and a new chair for my desk and Rod found a new salmon pole.  It is still early in the season for garage sales - there weren't too many yet.  We did our errands too.  Got a quote on materials from Home Depot for the chicken coop I'm planning - it came to $650.  I can deduct about $100 because I already have some of the materials.  I will take the materials list to the other two hardware stores and get quotes from them too.  But Home Depot said that if the other quotes come in cheaper that they will match the price and add a 10% discount.  I can use all the savings I can get.

The chicken coop is 10' x 12' with a shed roof.  It is a neat design.  You walk in the door and enter the storage area first which is 3' x 10' so I will have a dry place to keep the food and supplies.  Then there is a door into the coop.  I will be using a free door I picked up that has 2 sections - the top can open separately from the bottom.  So I have a bunch of lumber to buy, and I need to find an exterior door.  I have been collecting windows, so I'm set there too.  I will need to build a feeder, waterer, nesting boxes and roosts.  I want to have a way to collect the eggs from the outside of the coop I think...we will see.  Here is the basic plan I'm using:  Poultry House.  I have just a couple weeks to get things setup since that is when the feed store will get their chicks in.  I don't think I can keep them in the house at all with the dog and cat here, so I will keep them in the coop with heat.  Wish me luck!

My friends 5 year old is coming over this afternoon and we will be baking so that will be fun!  Putting the aprons to good use that I bought from Brenda (haflinger) over at The C Farm!  Thanks again Brenda!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have the day off work today.  It is raining out today, but that is better than snowing like it was yesterday!  I'm anxious to get some drier weather so I can start working outside in the garden.  I also want to do some landscaping in front of our house, so I am stuck just making plans for now - lots of lots of plans  :o)

I planted some seeds in flats (indoors) - zucchini, cucumbers (pickling & slicing), romaine lettuce, jalapeno peppers, and cabbage.  The Stupice tomatoes that I started last month got transplanted to 3" pots.  I already transplanted the Salad Bowl lettuce 2 weeks ago - I need to transplant the Great Lakes lettuce.  The other plants are doing well - dill, basil, parsley and celery.  The calendulas look good, but only about 2/3 germinated, so this morning I planted again in the spaces that were bare - we will see how that goes!

I found a good deal on a set of sheets at Fred Meyer.  All their winter flannel print sheet sets were 50% off - plus they have a coupon this week for 10% off - so I got the set for $18!  Yea!  So I'm trying to be economical and think of how to use the old set - the fitted one got a hole in it.  The flat one is in perfect shape, so I was thinking that would make a great backing for a quilt.  Any other ideas for the fitted and pillowcases?

I have some laundry going and I started a fire in the woodstove to get the living room all cozy.  Mixed up some bread dough and it is rising by the stove right now, almost time to pop it in the oven.  I haven't made bread for a couple weeks now, since we have been eating tortillas with everything.  I would like to learn how to freeze homemade tortillas - does anyone do this with success?

I made our corned beef & cabbage dinner last night and we will have leftovers from it for a few days - yummy!  Have a happy St. Patrick's day!

First Fire in the Woodstove!!

Our woodstove is installed (finally!) - and we had our first fire in it tonight.  We have a little to learn about getting it adjusted right, but it sure is fantastic!  What a great feeling to know that if the power goes out, we will still have heat!  Here is Rod building the first fire...

The dog seems to like it...

And one more picture of just the stove and hearth:

Woodstove Update

Woodstove Progress

What is wrong with this picture?

We discovered after getting one wall panel installed, that the wall pads have the wrong colored grout.  They have dark and we ordered light like the bottom part in the picture.  On top of that, they are the wrong size...  We are waiting to hear back from the dealer tomorrow as to what they are going to do to fix this...

So, what is your opinion:  do you think the light or the dark grout looks better?

Woodstove Hearth Progress

We picked up our riser and hearth yesterday from Alaska Hearth Products.  Rod decided today that he would put it together and get it setup, hopefully saving us some money when the rest of the parts are in and the guy is able to install everything.  He did a great job...it was a bit of work getting the thing in the door.  I don't know how much it weighs, but I'm guessing 300 pounds?  And it was just me and him to get it in.  We put the stove on top just to see how it is going to look.  It will need to go outside and get scrubbed and painted.  We will also have the same rock up the two walls behind the stove...can't wait to see how it all comes together.

Our Saturday...

This morning was productive for us.  I got up early and took down Christmas decorations so we could take the tree down to get shredded.  The chips will be used at the community garden next year.  We went to town and got that done.  We looked at a Jeep that is for sale - Rod is thinking about one since it would be much more efficient on gas than his truck (and he has wanted one for a long time).  Then we picked up our hearth for our woodstove - waiting for the wall pads to come in and then we can make an appointment to have them install everything - can't wait!!  The hearth is made of mica which is really pretty.  It will be raised up 6" on a corner hearth with wall pads up the wall also of mica.

We did our once a month shopping today - month 12.  This is the first time Rod has come with me - we did some changes to the list when we got to the store, switching a few things around.  Our monthly budget is $200, but we used some of that money already for New Year's food to bring to our friends, so we were operating today with $175.  We came in $2 under!  Yeah!  We stopped at WalMart just to see if they had anything that I was planning to buy at a cheaper price.  When we got to the checkout and things were ringing up, two items rung up higher than they were marked.  Just like KMart used to be...  I was not impressed.  I hope everyone else knows to keep an eye on what prices things ring up as vs. the price marked on the shelf as I've caught quite a few mistakes.  It may be just a few cents, but it adds up!  I was suprised to see that the price of butter at Costco had actually gone DOWN since last trip.  I normally buy the ultra-pasturized milk that stays good forever - instead I got the regular milk which is a little better for you and we froze it, so we'll see how that works out.  I wish we had a source for raw milk here...  We hunt and fish for our meat - except we do buy ham & bacon  :o).  Anyway, this winter was poor hunting so we are stretching our meat as far as possible.  I'm trying to make it last until the spring when Rod can get us a bear.  We were blessed yesterday when a friend offered us some deer meat - how fantastic!  

We returned movies to the library and picked out some more for this week.  I don't think I've mentioned yet that we gave away our TV that we had in the living room.  So now we have a little one in the bedroom that has a VCR/DVD player that we watch movies on.  It is cute to hear my friend's daughter ask "Where is your TV?...  Why did you give it away?".  I'm glad to be able to teach her that it isn't necessary to have a TV, microwave, or dishwasher in your house.  I also like to prove to myself that these things aren't necessary  :o)

I had put some beans and the rest of our Christmas ham into the crockpot for Ham Hocks and Beans, so it was nice to come home and not have to worry about cooking dinner.  It's late now and I'm thinking about what I'm going to bake tomorrow.  I want to get things ready so our week goes smoothly.  I also want to get some soap made...was going to do that tonight, but had a headache and spent a few hours laying down.  I hate that!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and accomplishing your New Year's Goals!  I should make my list and post it...still thinking about them. 

Canning Projects and Garage Sales

What have I been doing lately?  I worked on the greenhouse - got it painted red and planted my tomatoes in it.  They are so happy!  I just was in there tonight and counted 17 little tomatoes - I can't wait to eat the first ripe one.  The greenhouse is so nice - keeping everything not too cold, not too warm, not too wet!  There are only a couple of little tomatoes on the plants in the raised bed that has a plastic cover.  I think it is too wet in there for them to pollinate - I try to open them up when it is nice out so they can dry out.

I've been working on some canning projects this week.  My strawberries are finally ripe and so far I've picked 1 3/4 pounds - I've been weighing them to see how much it produces this year.  I had enough to make 4 jars of jam - and boy it was good on my homemade wheat bread this morning.  I also made a batch of jalapeno jelly (5 jars) - very good with cream cheese on crackers.  Then tonight I canned 4 jars of Rhubarb Orange Jam - very good combination.  There are quite a few other new things I want to try with things I've grown:  mint jelly, bluberry bonanza (syrup with the juice of the berries and butter with the leftover pulp), blueberry pie filling, rhubarb red currant preserves, blueberry sauce.  I'd like to try canning pizza sauce with store bought tomato paste.    Also want to make more dill pickles with the recipe I found last year - they are so good and we didn't have nearly enough!  If things work out, I hope to have some salmon to can as well - we are down to our last jar...

The garage sales yesterday were great!  We got some good deals...  a new Lodge 6 qt dutch oven with legs (the kind for cooking outside), 20 new boxes of canning lids, a new Aladdin thermos, a new axe and wedge, 5 new pair of socks for Rod, 4 packages of cloth diapers that I plan to sew up into pads for me - all that for only $30!  I picked up some 4" plastic pots and some gallon size for next years seed starting and two really cool wooden planters that I am going to stain and probably put on the porch.  Got a free bag of wood chips for the smoker and a box of canning lids and rings with roses on them - thought they would be good when doing up Christmas gifts.  Got a few other misc things - was a productive Saturday morning!

We bought a wood stove!

We have talked about getting a wood stove for this house since we bought it.  The quote we got for the stove, all parts and labor was between $3000 and $4000.  Ouch!  So I have been looking for a used stove since then.  In reading my old Mother Earth News magazines, I found a stove called a Fisher Wood Stove.  It was so cute and had trees on the front.  It is an airtight type and is a really heavy-duty, well made stove from what I could see.  So I was on a mission to find their "Baby Bear" model which heats up to 1000 sq ft.  I looked on ebay and saw a couple of them over the past year and a half, but none in good condition that the seller was willing to ship. 

So last night I was looking in the newspaper and saw in the classifieds that someone had a Fisher wood stove for sale.  I figured it was probably one of the bigger models, but had to call anyway to find out.  The lady wasn't sure what model it was, but it was about a foot wide by a couple feet deep - sounded like the right size to me.  I asked if it had one adjustment knob on the front - yes - sure enough, it is the Baby Bear!!  I was so excited - I drove to see it and take pictures so Rod could see it too before we decided for sure to buy it.  There is a little rust to clean up, but not a big deal.  Rod said we should go for it - it is exactly what I've been looking for and we don't have to deal with shipping it!  We picked it up this afternoon...now just have to find out how much to get it installed.  We have to decide what kind of heat shield to put up on the wall behind where the stove will go.  We are considering a copper sheet that a man in town does - and he can put different designs on it like fish or bears or moose or whatever - that may turn out too expensive, but we are going to find out.  I love copper!

Record Snowfall

Last I heard, we broke the record for the second snowiest winter on record in Juneau.  We were in 4th on Monday, moved to 3rd on Wednesday and surpassed 183.6 inches yesterday.  The snowiest winter was back in 1963/64 with 194.3 inches.  We are getting so close, I hope we break the record...kinda like an award for all the shoveling we've had to do!!  We were close to breaking the record for the most snow in March too...

Earlier this month we had a couple days of beautiful sunny weather.  It really lifts my spirits and puts me in such a good mood when it is like this out.

Vacation Day #1!

Today was the first day of my vacation - I'm not going anywhere, just taking some time off work to use up some vacation pay.  I'll be off until Monday, Feb 12 - and getting paid!  Can't beat that   

I got up with Rod - a little earlier than I usually do, but I wanted to feel productive today.  I washed dishes and picked up.  Then I played on the computer a little.  I typed out my recipes for things I make all the time and put the recipes in My Favorite Recipes binder - bread, rolls, biscuits, beans and grains.  I looked up recipes for a shampoo bar as I want to try making our own.  I found a few, but haven't decided which one to try.  I found a recipe for Chamomile Shampoo and mixed a batch of that - we'll see how it works tomorrow. 

I will be planning this year's garden during my time off.  We have just a small vegetable garden.  This year we will focus on just a few crops and growing as much food in our space as we can.  Here is my list so far:

1.  Potatoes

2.  Carrots

3.  Onions

4.  Tomatoes (in the greenhouse)

5.  Lettuce

6.  Radishes

7.  Green Beans

I made Beef Barley soup for dinner, baked a loaf of bread, and made Blueberry Coffee Cake for dessert.

We are watching our Monday night TV shows and I think I'll surf over to the Mrs. Survival website (www.mrssurvival.com) and do some more reading - good stuff!

He Surprised Me With....

Before I left work yesterday, Rod called and wanted to know what my plans were.  Are you coming right home?  No, I have to go to the grocery store, so I'll be about an hour or so.  He said to make sure and call when I was on my way...  What the heck does he have planned?  I figured he must be wrapping presents, but I don't think he has even gone shopping yet.

So I finished at one store and he called and said I could come home now - finished my shopping at the other store and headed home.  When I got home, there weren't any lights on - no porch light or anything.  What the heck!  How inconsiderate not to leave the light on for me - so I called from the driveway (silly, huh?) but he didn't answer.  Then I heard Clover outside, so I looked around to see where Rod was...didn't see him.  I grabbed a few groceries and carefully made my way to the steps - it is pretty icy and I didn't want to fall down in my skirt.

I had a pretty good idea what might be going on by now...I tried to peek in the window by the steps.  I could kinda see in - is that what I think it is?  I can't really tell...  So Rod opened the door and flipped on the light.  OH WOW!  A tree!  A tree!  He got our Christmas Tree!!!  Yea!  I was so surprised!  What a great gift from the best boyfriend!!

Here is our living room with the tree all decorated - there are even gifts under the tree for me.  I better get busy and wrap his too!  Simon, our cat, was already over to check everything out - he was good though and didn't play with any of the ornaments.  We will see how he does while we are gone today...  Now it feels like Christmas!

Snow Pictures

We have had an amazing amount of snow - second snowiest November on record and it dumped again this weekend.  This morning we decided to take pictures before we shoveled - so here are pics around our "homestead" 

This afternoon things were warming up - things getting heavy and melting.  We had two power outages this morning and one yesterday.  Luckily ours are usually restored quickly!

No More Credit Cards!

I spent time today cleaning off my desk - took out the pile of papers and receipts that I stashed away and sorted through everything.  Most went in the trash - yea!  Got my bills paid yesterday and accounts balanced.  Made out my budget for Christmas gifts.  I am commited to using cash for everything - no credit cards!  I cut up all but one credit card and removed that last one from my purse.  It has been much too easy to use that card lately and it needs to stop, so I stashed it.

I've been working on my Christmas cards and have them all addressed.  I am writing a letter to go in them with pictures, so still working on that, then they will be ready to mail.  Feels good to be on top of things.  You know the funny thing?  I actually addressed the envelopes last year, but never got around to sending them out, so I'll send them this year!

Snowy Wednesday

It has been very cold the past couple weeks - into the minus temps overnight and up to the teens during the day.  This is not our usual weather here in Southeast Alaska.  It warmed up a bit last night - into the 20's and it snowed overnight and is still snowing today.  Doesn't make me want to be outside at all!  I've been sick the last couple days anyway, so I've been home from work and recouperating - sleeping alot.  I'm feeling a bit better this afternoon, so hopefully I'll be able to go back to work tomorrow.  I hate just sitting around doing nothing - drives me crazy!  I probably should go pay my bills...