Alaska! Day One

Day One.  That implies that there will be a Day Two and Day Three, doesn’t it?  The way blogging has been for me lately, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.  But I’ll do my best!

The good news is…. in Alaska in the summer, you get two days for the price of one!  Actually, if you wait until it gets dark outside to go to bed, you’ll never go to bed.  It’s 11:45 pm as I’m writing this and still bright as day outside.  Pam looks out and says, “It looks dark to me!” but I told her you sure wouldn’t need a flashlight to walk around out there.  And even with the blackout curtains drawn in the bedroom last night, there was always a halo glow around the edges of them.  So with all that extra daylight time on my hands, you’d think I’d have time to post a blog every day, wouldn’t you?

No Alaska trip would be complete for me without a trip to the dog kennel of GB Jones.  The last time I was at the kennel was in 2008 for the Iditarod so things had changed quite a bit out there!

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And there’s GB himself, walking up the path to greet us when we arrived!

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The first thing that’s really different about the kennel is there’s a cabin there.  With electricity.  And internet.  Oh, my.  GB has come a long way since I first met him in 2007.

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And there are puppies!  Lots and lots of puppies.  The cutest puppies you can imagine.  Complete with puppy breath.  And energy.  Except for that one lonely guy in the background…..

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I think he must have had a hard day.  It’s tough being a puppy in the world, dontcha know?  A puppy’s gotta have naptime too.  Resting up so one day he can run with the big dogs.

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Pam and I had to have the obligatory picture with each of us holding a puppy.  It’s mandatory.

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Isn’t this little guy cute?  With the bluest eyes you ever saw.

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He snuggled right up to me and it was all over for me.  I carried him around for the rest of the day.  And the longer I held him, the cuddlier he got!

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There are also swans at the kennel!  Including a baby swan who has grown a lot from the first time I saw a pic of him on facebook.  Aren’t they pretty?

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And a little baby dove…. born just hours before we showed up at the kennel today.

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The Alaskan Wall is still there.  It encircles a big area in the back of the kennel.  And Boo is still there…. I think he is the only cat on the Alaskan Wall.  Shhhh, don’t tell the dogs!

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This is Kim.  She has the bluest eyes you ever saw – only they don’t show quite the blueness in this picture.  She is going to be moving in with Pam as soon as Pam gets a fence around her property.

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Here’s a pic on the Alaskan Wall that brings back a flood of memories of our fabulous adventure in 2007.  Do you recognize those Texas gals?

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What fun to be at the Iditarod Trail Kennel again!

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And I was almost successful in sneaking this cute little guy home with me. Aren’t those eyes just killer blue?

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This is a commonplace view as you drive down the road in Alaska. I think the people here just take the mountains for granted. But I wanted to snap a picture as we rounded every corner! Such a tourist I am.

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Where else but Alaska would you have a grocery store named Three Bears?

When we got back to Pam’s place tonight we took a long walk around her property. And she pointed out native trees and other special things.

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Like moose droppings in the woods on her property. I thought they looked just like pecan shells.

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She also made a special point of showing me this very prickly, very dangerous weed that grows all over.

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Because these are what the thorns look like that are hiding under all that pretty greenery. Oh, and I may have a few mosquito bites after our little stroll through the woods.

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After dinner, Pam’s friend, Kay came by with her sweet granddaughter, Faith, who is visiting from Michigan. They came by because we called to tell them about a very special visitor who also dropped by after dinner and they wanted to meet him.

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Meet Bruce, the Moose! Hey, when it’s the very first ever moose who drops by to hang out for 2 hours in your backyard just a few feet from the windows, the least you can do is give him a name! Isn’t he just the cutest? Actually, I think he’s so ugly, he’s cute. If that makes any sense at all. And it’s pretty exciting when the dogs are going crazy in the house and you try to quiet them, only to then go crazy yourself when you discover exactly what it is they are barking at. Bruce the Moose has come for a visit. Pam and I even thought we might need to throw together a quilt for him so he could spend the night. But he eventually sauntered away into the woods.

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But only after he’d had a photo op through the window of 3,268 pics between the two of us and our various electronic devices.

Aren’t you happy I decided you needed to only see two of them?

Until tomorrow…… Greetings from Alaska! Where it seems the sun never sets and it’s very, very, very, very hard to go to bed…..
Hugs,
Barb

Posted in Alaska, vacation | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Oh to Sleep Like a Cat!

Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep in just any old position?  And look really cute while doing it?

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Just let body parts hang out everywhere?

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I absolutely love the way Pappy’s tail always hangs straight down.  And in case you can’t see her, Panda is totally curled up and tucked in at the top.  She doesn’t ascribe to the body parts hanging out way of sleeping.

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Or maybe it’s enough to just curl up in the sink and look cute……

Happy Saturday!
Hugs,
Barb

Posted in cats, Panda, Pappy | Tagged | 9 Comments

Oh to Sleep Like a Cat!

Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep in just any old position?  And look really cute while doing it?

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Just let body parts hang out everywhere?

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I absolutely love the way Pappy’s tail always hangs straight down.  And in case you can’t see her, Panda is totally curled up and tucked in at the top.  She doesn’t ascribe to the body parts hanging out way of sleeping.

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Or maybe it’s enough to just curl up in the sink and look cute……

Happy Saturday!
Hugs,
Barb

Posted in just stuff | 5 Comments

Have Cat Tree Will Travel

Dear Hubby and I have been traveling.  In our motorhome.  With Dear Mom along.  Silly me.  I thought I would have time to blog on our trip!  But today we are headed home.  In fact, as I write this we are less than 20 miles from home.  So much for blogging while on the trip.  Sigh.

But Panda and Pappy came along too.  And they have been the best traveling buddies!

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Look how cute they are!  The first few days they shared a space under a big chair. It was their favorite place for many days while going down the road.

But as the trip continued, the cat tree became the favorite spot….even while going down the road.

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Aw come on, Panda!  I wanna be on the top spot!

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No Mom, I don’t wanna leave Panda alone right now!

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Ahhhhhh, success.  Now that’s the way to travel!

Such sweet traveling kitties…. and look how big Pappy has grown!
Hugs,
Barb

Posted in cats, Panda, Pappy, vacation | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Things Learned at Retreat

We have a game we play with Newbies at JSS retreats.  We call it Two Truths and a Lie.  The object of the game is to stump the rest of the retreaters into believing your lie is the truth.  The game also lets us get to know the Newbies better.  They are instructed to tell us three things about themselves.  Interesting tidbits from their lives.  Two of them true and one a lie.  We all have to guess which one is the lie.

This year we expanded the game a bit.  To include everyone at retreat and not just Newbies.  And we cancelled the lie part.  The retreaters were challenged to think about something about themselves that no one at retreat knows about.  And write it on a slip of paper.  Periodically throughout the day we read the papers and then everyone tries to guess who wrote it.

These are the things I’ve learned at retreat.  From the game and just in general.

1.  Even if there are no prizes involved for putting in the most slips of paper, Sue H will stuff the box.  Fellow JSSers will remember our first retreat when we were naming the Bee.  There was a basket of fat quarters involved and Sue wanted them.  The way Sue thought of things to write about herself at this retreat you would have thought there were fat quarters involved.  Please don’t tell her there are no prizes this time.

2.  If you ever want to stuff the ballot box in a political election, Sue’s your woman.  See #1.

3.  Newbie Marianne is quite the daredevil.  Skydiving, parasailing and hang gliding.  And only one of those was a lie.

4.  If you ever play a game like this and your sister is also at the retreat, the very worst phrase you can utter to her is, “Just write some down for me.”  Just ask Karen.  And you can ask Sally about how red Karen’s face was.

5.  It’s really been nice knowing Vicki.  I doubt if we’ll be seeing her at JSS retreats any more.  Karen may never again let her know the retreat dates.

6.  We have famous people in our midst.  One was a finalist for a singing position at Knott’s Berry Farm, one was in a Miss Credit Union pageant, one worked with a Dr who is now in prison for killing his wife and children.  And those were all the same person.  We also have a former Queen of East Texas and one who met Prince Charles and had a personal conversation with him.  One who studied archeology at Oxford University and one who hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with her 60 year old Aunt.  Even one who learned to count by playing Black Jack.  With her father.  Who knew quilters could be so incredible and diverse?

7. When in doubt, just hang with the famous people.  Witness one who wrote “I am friends with a woman who was in a Miss Credit Union Pageant.  It’s still hard not to be jealous.”  Followed by another who wrote, “I have a friend who has a friend who was a contestant in a Credit Union Pageant.”  Silly girls.

8.  If you are ever in a Credit Union Pageant, do not tell anyone.  Or they might make you a sash out of paper towels to commemorate your achievement at a quilting retreat.  And you will have to wear it so as not to hurt their feelings.

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See?

9. Tie-dyed socks are very IN.

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And if you have a friend who makes you some and gives them to you at retreat, it is imperative that you put your tootsies with fellow tootsies for a picture of them.

10. Sally doesn’t do anything half way.

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Look at this unbelievable bag she made!

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I mean who embellishes buttons with rick-rack like this? Apparently Sally does. She has earned every one of her Best of Show ribbons. You go, Sally girl.

11.  It’s too bad that laughing isn’t an aerobic exercise.  But wait!  Maybe it is?

I can hardly wait to see what new things I learn before we head home again.
Still laughing,
Barb

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