Life in Southeast Alaska

Spring Cleaning

My vitamin D pills must be kicking in because I have found motivation in the last few days!  About time  :o)  I am not the best at keeping house - I can find a million things I'd rather do.  But our home should be a place of peace and we should be proud to show it off to friends.  And it isn't quite there yet...

I cleaned my closet on Sunday - purged everthing that I don't wear or doesn't fit - got rid of worn out socks.  Amazing how my drawers close nicely now that they aren't overloaded.  I am cleaning the clothes that I want to take to the consignment shop.  Might as well try to make a couple bucks.  I also had a stack of shirts that had stains on them.  Mostly from me spilling food on myself...  So I soaked them all in some OxyClean for a few hours and washed them.  Three of eight came out good - I'll soak the rest again and see if any more come clean.  I usually wear a plain colored shirt with a vest, sweater or long sleeve shirt over it with one of my skirts.  I have 3 skirts, with two more waiting for me to finish sewing them.  I really love to wear skirts - full length - they are so comfortable and fabulously feminine!  My favorite is a tiered jean skirt - I almost have that one worn out!

Monday I tackled the dreaded second bedroom.  That is our hobby room and where I keep my soap supplies.  Although the supplies have spilled out into the hallway - stacked buckets everywhere!  Yikes!  So I began by pulling everything out of the room and putting in the living room for sorting.  I moved the small desk to the living room too, so the room isn't as crowded.  I used some bed risers to lift my work table up a couple inches.  This allowed me to stack my soap supply buckets underneath the table.  I arranged all my pots and supplies on the shelves where they will be easy to access.  I grouped like supplies together - candle stuff together, lotion bar stuff together.  I'm not quite done yet, but got rid of alot of stuff!  I started going through my papers and getting them in file folders.  I have some craft show display stuff that needs to go out in the shed as our house is just to small to hold everything.  I also have my magazines to go through.  I have a great collection of Mother Earth News - from issue 1 to current, only missing a couple issues.  It sure takes up alot of space...  I could buy the digital versions, but it wouldn't be the same as the paper magazine.  I also have many issues of Backwoods Home - love that one!  Do you keep magazines?  Where do you store them?

Anyone else spring cleaning now?

Feels Like Spring in Alaska

I just read the article that there is snow in 49 of our 50 states.  Well here in Juneau, Alaska, we haven't had snow for 2 or 3 weeks and it is feeling like spring outside.  Most of the snow and ice has melted and my rhubarb has popped up and is getting leaves.  Way too early for that, but normally they are covered in snow at this time of year.  Maybe I should cover them with some leaves or something so that when it does freeze or snow that they have some protection.  Wondering if it is warm enought to grow anything in the greenhouse (unheated)...  Thinking of starting some seeds inside in the windowsill and testing it out - maybe kale or some other greens.  I also wonder if I covered the strawberry beds with some clear plastic if I could get strawberries earlier than July.

I haven't blogged for quite awhile.  Keeping busy at our shop and at my new job with Wings Airways and making soap in between.  Been slacking on the housework and grocery shopping/cooking.  Still trying to get settled into a routine - we'll get there.

I have a couple projects to work on inside.  I have two jean skirts cut out ready to sew up and another one to start.  Also have been working a little on a braided rug for our living room made out of old wool coats.  It is quite a bit of work cutting them all up in 2" strips and getting them ready for braiding.  I had to order the right kind of thread to use.  All I could find in town was heavy nylon, but I read not to use nylon as it will wear on the wool and cut through.  So the thread I ordered is button and carpet thread - cotton covered polyester.  Should be here soon.

Well, I'm off to read a few blogs before I head down to work at the shop this afternoon.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Sealed the Deck

We have had rainy weather since the deck was finished three weeks ago.  But yesterday we had little wet stuff and the deck dried out.  I checked the forecast and we should be dry for a couple days.  Had to use the opportunity to apply the sealer to the deck since I might not get another chance before winter.  I rushed home after work and got everything ready and went to it.  I used a pump up sprayer (like for fertilizers) to apply the sealer and then rolled over with a paint roller on a stick.  Worked very well when I had the sprayer pumped up enough and it sprayed right  :o)  I'm liking how it turned out - it has a very pretty color to it - although the sealer is clear, it is definitely darker.  I'll have to see how it looks after it has dried.

Deck Project - Complete!

We finished up the construction of the deck - it looks so great!  I will be painting the treated lumber and sealing the cedar with a clear sealant, but it began raining on Thursday, so I have to wait until things dry out again.  John was able to go fishing yesterday, so he got to take back some halibut and sockeye with him.

Dad helping with cleanup - getting rid of the sawdust with the leaf blower :o)

Deck Project - Day 5

Not quite done with everything, but very, very close.  We completed the steps up to the front door and the steps from the ground to the deck.  We started the back steps and just have the treads to complete.  John wants to do some fishing before he leaves on Sunday, so we have to get this project completed  :o)

Charity and her kids came over, so we put them right to work!

Here we got the timber buried for the bottom of the steps.

Here we have buried the timber for the back steps.

I guess all the work today made Clover all tuckered out  :o)

Deck Project - Day 4

Moving right along on the deck.  Sorry I didn't get pics up until this morning - it got too late last night  :o)

Our goal was to get all the decking down - which we did.  And John started building the steps up to the doorway.  So today we will finish those and build the stairs up to the deck by the door and off the back toward the garden.  So close!  Then I will need to seal everything while we are still having good weather.

Deck Project - Day 3

Moving right along on the project - here is the progress today.

The angle here is where the back steps will be.  John had to alter the foundation to accommodate the load here.

Our goal tomorrow is to complete the rest of the decking...  we will see!  :o)

Deck Project - Day 2

We put in a full day on the deck today and I can't believe how different it looks already.  We finished positioning all the pier blocks - that was the hard part.  Then we cut and nailed the beams and 3/4 of the joists.  But it got too dark, so we had to call it a day.  Can't wait to see how much we get done tomorrow!

Deck Project - Day 1

Here is the progress we made Saturday on the deck.  It is not attached to the house, so we are building it on pier blocks.  We marked out where each block would be and used John's new level to determine how much to dig or add to make each block at the same height.  We got 6 of the 27 blocks into position.  Pretty good progress for a half day!  Poor Clover was confused about why we moved the stairs to the front door  :o)

Deck Project - Before Pics

My wonderful little brother is flying up to build me a deck this week.  I am taking off work and am not doing the Artists Market this weekend.  Rod and I have been thinking about this since we bought the new house, and we are finally going to do it.  We also want to have it covered, but we still need to agree on how to do that...

The lumber yard just delivered the lumber and the cedar boards smell so good!  My brother arrives at noon today - can't wait!

I'll try to take pictures of the progress as we go - so Rod can see what he is missing out on :o)

Great Surprise

I had a great surprise Friday morning – Rod flew in for a couple days!  He wasn’t going to come until next week – so it was a great surprise.  Friday was his birthday.  I took the day off work and we spent the day together.  He got to see all the changes I’ve been working on over the last month – the new garden beds, the chicken fence, everything in the garden.  We went to some friends for BBQ chicken dinner – yummy.  I made a German chocolate cake and we made him blow out candles  :o)

Saturday we went garage sale-ing and found some good treasures – mostly at one sale!  Rod used to be big into collecting albums, but has them all back in Idaho.  He found a box of 60 albums – they were asking $2 each, but he got them for just $40 for all.  He is great when it comes to negotiating.  I found a Pendleton wool blanket for $3, a few canning jars and a gardening book.  We had a lot of fun.

Saturday afternoon we had dinner with friends – BBQ steak and shrimp, corn on the cob and potato salad – also yummy!  It was nice to just visit and relax. 

The 2 days went by very fast.  Rod had to fly back to Skagway to be to work Sunday morning.

I bought 2 wooden planters and filled them with a cherry tomato and a yellow pear tomato with marigolds.  I gave them to my dad for father’s day.  They have little tomatoes on them already, so I hope they make lots of fruits! 

I didn’t get enough sleep the past couple days, so I took a nap yesterday – woke up 3 hours later!  It was still early enough that I had time to make 2 batches of soap – Tee Harbor Breeze and a new one – White Ginger.  Not enough time to bake bread, so that will be on the list for tonight along with 2 more batches of soap – Oatmeal, Milk & Honey and either Alaskan Rainforest or Fisherman’s Soap (another new one).

Another Nice Day in Alaska

The weather we have been having is just phenomenal - definitely not our normal rainy summer so far.  We have had sun and warm weather for the past 5 weeks pretty much.  Today I worked out in the yard and soaked up the heat.  I didn't do any big project, just tried to clean up from my building project and make the yard look tidy.  Also, since the white chicken is now back with the rest of the flock, I cleaned out the storage side of the chicken coop.  I hung up a cabinet in there, moved all the non-chicken stuff to the regular storage shed and organized what was left.  Looks good and feels good to be done.  For dinner, I made some Potato Corn chowder and threw in some fresh green onions - yeah, something from the garden  :o)

Hey Rod - look how big your tomato plants are getting - two of the three have open blossoms now!  Time to fertilize. 

I didn't get a chance to try out the new cleaner on the siding today, but here is a picture of the test spot I did about a week ago.  It sure cleaned it up - not gray anymore!

The Weekend At My Homestead

I am getting spring fever pretty bad now!  I have been shopping for onion plants, seed potatoes & fruit bushes.  We had a beautiful sunny day today - but cold - the wind was brisk!  Our low temp tonight is supposed to be 9 degrees. Should be above freezing next Tuesday according to the weatherman.  I am seriously contemplating shoveling my garden so when it does warm up that the garden will thaw out quicker - the snow is still a few feet deep out there  :o)

The chickens are doing well, they have a heat lamp on in the coop so they stay warm and the water doesn't freeze.  Last week, they laid 3 to 5 eggs per day and at least one of the Aracaunas has resumed laying beautiful green eggs.  I love to just look at the eggs all lined up in the egg carton - great colors of cream, tan, brown with speckles, blue, green - each hen lays just a little different color than the others.  I won't need to color eggs for Easter  :o)

I have been reading up on composting with worms (vermicomposting) and Rod and I decided that we are going to give it a try.  The worms will digest our veggie scraps, shredded paper, etc. and give us worm castings for the garden.  On top of that, once we have them established the worms will multiply and we can feed some to the chickens.  So I will be looking at different setups and deciding which will work for us and where I will locate it.  Wish me luck!

Today I worked on cutting some soap into bars to set to cure.  My goal is to get these 6 batches done and make more soap tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes...  I tend to make big plans and not get half of it done.  Too many things I want to do!

I have been looking for a peasant style shirt pattern for me too.  So far, not much luck on the internet.  I found one at Joanns, but am going to wait until that kind is on sale - next week I think.  I'll let you know when I start on that project.  I have two skirts cut out that need to be sewn and one skirt that needs mending.  Hopefully I can get to that soon.

Have a great weekend!!

Christmas Weekend

We had a nice Chrismas and a relaxing few days off work.  We delivered some presents to friends on Christmas Eve, went out to dinner, and then drove around and looked at Christmas lights.  We slept in Christmas morning then watched some Christmas movies - everything I wanted to do!  :o) 

Last weekend was the last craft show of the year and it will be nice to have a break from them for awhile.  The next one will be right before Valentine's Day.  I will need to start making soap next week for that show.  I also need to start contacting store owners about wholesale.  I want to get some orders in and have a plan for making and delivering soap before the tourist season begins in May.  I will be making a supply order soon too, so I have some figuring to do.

I reviewed my finances this weekend and I have a good handle on what my next steps are.  I am going to continue keeping expenses to a minimum and will split the remainder of my income between savings and extra house payments.  With this plan, our house will be paid off in just two years and I will have my savings built up too.  Paying off the house early will save us over $30,000 in interest payments - wow!

We made progress on our food storage goals this weekend.  I packaged up 10 buckets of grains - soft and hard wheat, corn, rice & pinto beans - in buckets with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.  It was the first time I had done that - found some videos on youtube that helped alot.  I ran short of buckets and mylar bags, so I'll finish up when more supplies come in.

I started another project - weeding through my cookbooks.  So far, I have 5 grocery bags full to donate to the used book store.  I am copying the recipes I want to keep and try and then getting rid of the book.  I still have lots to go through, but I want to make space in the hobby room for all my soap supplies and equipment.  Wish me luck - books are so hard for me to get rid of!

The chickens are doing well despite the cold weather we have had the past couple weeks.  Insulating the coop is high on the to do list this spring.  Right now we have hung some blankets over the windows and one of the walls - mexican blankets, so the interior is festive and colorful!  We are getting between 3 and 6 eggs per day at this point.  Yesterday I got the tiniest egg I've ever seen and today we got two huge ones - double yolkers for sure.  I shoveled their yard, but only one was adventurous to go outside.  They like to eat the snow, especially off my boots when I go into the coop - silly chickens!

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!