Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Wow, it's been a month since my last post!

It's been a long time since I posted last, but that doesn't mean nothing's been happening. Au contraire, mon cheri, it's because I've been too busy to post.

Let's see... Where shall I start my update? I believe I'll start with this morning's 4.7 earthquake. Since I've only been in small, wiggly earthquakes, I still think they're cool. This is the second one I've felt, the first one for Jim, and James slept through it. In his defense, it was at 4:00 in the morning and he was on the ground floor, so I can't blame him.

And oh yeah, you probably figured out from that last paragraph that James is home from college for the summer. Yay!! He brought home lots of happy memories and dirty laundry and I couldn't be happier to have him around again.

The migratory birds are back, and we have ducks and terns and the occasional seagull on the lake. There was a beaver swimming in the lake one day, too. The grass and trees are greening up nicely, and that delicious signature Alaskan smell is in the air. Someone released four or five domestic rabbits and we see them around sometimes, especially this one that spends half the day, every day, in our yard. I told Jim he should pretend to be Elmer Fudd and set a trap for it.

Jim and James saw some wild caribou while they were out running errands one day last week. I wasn't with them, and am sorry I missed seeing them in the wild. After seeing the racing caribou at the Rondy, it's been a goal of mine to see the Kenai herd, but I've sadly managed to miss them so far. Well, spring isn't over, and I'm still keeping my eyes peeled.

After a lot of fun discussion on Facebook and through emails with my friends, I finally named my fur business. Look for the website for Smiling Otter Studio to be available soon. My task has been to make children's hats for Northland Furs in Soldotna, and I found out I'll also have some in Northland Wildlife Studio in Sterling. Lee says she'll be sending samples to Alaska Fur Exchange in Anchorage to see if they want to order some as well. I'm hoping to have a second project added to my responsibilities soon so I can have some variety. I've had my first paying fur work in the form of two bear pelts that needed repairs before being rugged. They were a lot of work which didn't pay much and the smell of bear was hard to take after a while, but if offered another bear pelt to do, I'd grit my teeth and smile and say "Yes, please; thank you very much." Anything I can learn at this point has benefits beyond the money, and who am I to turn that down?

The main thing keeping Jim busy lately has been his new flock of quail and chickens. But they're going to get their own post soon, so I'm not going to tell you anything about them just yet. You'll have to stay tuned...

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