Postings up to 29 October 2011

    More garden scenics from early August

    Isabella's birthday

Isa had a great birthday on 25 July, with a barbecue attended by friends and a cake cooked by Joe. The cake had alternating white and black blocks (made from vanilla and dark chocolate fudge frosting) with the words HAPPY BDAY in M-and-M's (also known as Smarties). Yes, it rained a little, and it is ironic that the same birthday weather Isa experienced in Durbin's winter is the same weather she now experiences in Alaska's summer. We served lots of ribs, steak, and reindeer sausages to everyone. Isa made some fabulous shish-kebab using an apricot as a sweetener; it was wonderful. Many thanks to Adrianna for giving us these photos, since I was too busy at the grill.

    Flower and garden scenics

    Not enough of this for my taste, sadly

    10:45 p.m. along the Yukon River on 3 July 2011

I'm really taken with the bottom picture showing the sun streaming through the alders and illuminating the grass in the late summer evening sun. It reminds me of Andrew Wyeth. It was a beautiful evening to be out and about.

    A double rainbow with shadow

A beautiful double rainbow with a shadow spanning the two arcs. A stunner.

    The sad story of the bees

We tried bees this year. They were doing pretty well until the day in the middle of June I opened the hive and discovered that the entire colony had somehow got up and flown away. Apparently this is called "swarming" and I was warned by the books to expect calls from neighbors to get the bees back, which can be done by gently carrying off the queen. However, my bees decided to explore the wilderness. They'll do fine until that cold day in early October when they realize they're living in Alaska. RIP

    Seedlings and starts - May 2011

Some of the starts just before going out to the garden.

• Pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, and watermelon under the lights.
• Six kinds of basil planted out in the greenhouse.
• Brocolli and kohlrabi starts.
• Peppers waiting to be planted in the greenhouse.
• A close-up of the Genovese variety of basil.

    Early spring scenics - May 2011

A lake emerges from the ice and snow of the winter. This was a beautiful night along the road. The night before, following the high school graduation, Isa and I saw a pair of muskrats building their lodge and at least 20 kinds of birds, and it was all enjoyed without mosquitoes. On this night, though, all we saw were scenes like this one. (22 May 2011)






Snow geese and shovelers in a snowmelt pond.
(24 May 2011)

A snowshoe hare in summer fur. (29 May 2011)