Postings up to 2 August 2011

Beekeeping

      The bees arrived at the same time as some springtime flu of some sort, meaning that the hives were put up in a flurry of sneezing and coughs. I kept thinking about state insurance investigators looking at guys faking back injuries mowing the lawn. In any case, I got the bees in. It will be nice getting honey from Galena. I've heard bee stings are used as a pallative for illness; thankfully, I am still sick. Putting up a beehive in the snow was a strange experience. More photos are posted here.

Winter carnival scenics

      Sled dog races at the spring carnival. What a beautiful day out there - lots of sunshine, no wind, one of the warmer spring carnivals that I can remember. Joe did well in the snowshoe race. Shamefully, I was really more into planting out for the garden this summer, so I didn't stay very long. Fun time, though.

Joe's 13th birthday party

      Joe's 13th birthday party was on Saturday, 19 March. All of his friends came over, ate snails - no joke, Joe got turned on to escargot last summer at Pike's Landing - and generally had a good time, played computer games, and hung out.

      Top row: Joe's beer stein from the world of World of Warcraft world. Please don't call child protective services, as it has no beer inside it. Joe also got a Clay Matthews shirt - Clay is his favorite Green Bay Packer. Bottom row: Grandma and Joe at his party - grandma always comes up to visit on Joe's birthday, plus she gets to see Alaska as it really is for the 11 months the weather is crappy. Joe's friends raise glasses in a toast to the birthday boy.

      It was just a beautiful day on 26 February, with the sun finally high in the sky and just putting out enough heat to warm the skin. We've had a few days of blizzard around here, with some pretty strong winds, and the stillness and sunlight were really appreciated.

      This scene has been pictured in all seasons and weather. It was nice to see the snow windblown fresh. Below: Isa in the car; a female pine grosbeak.

A moose walking along the creek in the winter sunshine. Below: The root cellar in winter. It was a cozy 36.3 degrees F in there today while it was -8 degrees F outside. The other photo shows the raised bed covered with yesterday's blizzard (as well as the other snow yet to melt).

Flowers and ice on my birthday

      The paperwhite narcissus are blooming nicely on the windowsill. The landscape is what you see outside the living room window; the sun is low on the horizon at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. I also took two photos of the thermometer, in Fahrenheit and Celsius. A warming trend is coming and they say that it'll be -5 degrees F on Tuesday! Isa is making me an angel food cake - cake from an angel. I had a great afternoon watching the Packers beat the Bears with Joe sitting on the couch. A perfect day.

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