Category Archives: Uncategorized

I have a hobby greenhouse.  It is a smallish thing about 10 feet by 7 feet.  There is electricity in it and the potential for heat, but I have never pursued it instead just going with what Mother Nature gives me.  See in Alaska if you are going to grow anything that requires warmth you need a greenhouse to move things along.  What most people consider to be spring and fall crops are our summer crops.  Spinach.  Lettuce.  Broccoli.  If you want tomatoes or cucumbers, you need a greenhouse in Alaska.  I danced a jig when we bought our house seven years ago because it had a greenhouse.  I had visions of tomatoes and cucumbers.

The reality is I suck at growing tomatoes and cucumbers.  Last summer I was moderately successful with cucumbers, and I actually got a couple of good tomatoes as well (cripes were they good).  Enough of a taste to push my tomato vision to more of an obsession.  I WILL HAVE lots of tomatoes this year, dammit.  Step one of my diabolical plan is to build actual beds in my greenhouse instead of using large pots.  In order to accomplish this I had to bat my eyelashes at my husband and have him build them help me.  Not that I am a helpless female when it comes to power tools, I am simply the least mechanically inclined person you have ever met AND I am a helpless female when it comes to power tools (Jessie just spat on the ground and declared our friendship over….).

One of the requirements Terry put down for these beds was we couldn’t buy new lumber….something about we have a lot of lumber in the shed and you want beds for outside of the greenhouse too and isn’t this getting a little out of hand, whatever.  I went to the shed and found our old risers from when we tore up the stairs and put in hardwood stairs.  Hooray!!  They are perfect.  The fun part came as we moved risers and other lumber around to get the most garden bed for our repurposed lumber.  How green are we, huh?  I know, we got a green star for the day.

Everyone in the family got into the act and helped out. *cough…obligatory-pictures-of-grandchildren….cough*  And I even used the miter saw AND the circular saw.

End product is great…I don’t think This Old House is calling any time soon to do a show or anything, but I am pleased with the beds.  I basically have three 2′x6′ beds in the greenhouse now.  Note the lack of soil in the beds….it takes a lot of dirt to fill these bad boys up.  I know as I filled up the right hand one using random soil from pots and 4 cubic feet of additional soil. We need to rent a truck and go get some serious soil people.

We finished putting away all the Christmas decorations except these snowflake gels. I like them too much to pack them away.

These are the fingerless mitts I knit to wear while I am in Seattle. They seem perfect for 40′s and rain, which is what the weather is going to be. Why am I burying my face in my hands? Well, Mt. Redoubt has decided to erupt. Flights in and out of Anchorage are iffy. Not that I blame them – way back when I was in high school and it was erupting a plane shut down as it passed through some ash and almost crashed. Crashing is not good. Here’s hoping I still get to go.

2008 was the year of accessories. I knit socks, hats, scarves, and mittens to excess. Just two – count them two – sweaters and they weren’t even full size sweaters. That will change next year. I plan to knit more sweaters – at least four sweaters for me. Have a Happy New Year everyone!

The lovely Jen over at Knitting Adventures nominated me for the “I love your blog award.” *blush* That is so nice coming from such a neat woman. I love reading her blog, if you don’t read it, you should. She has a large, busy family in a beautiful place. She squeezes in as much knitting as she can.

Here’s my end of the deal:
-Post the award on my blog (check)
-Post a link to the person who nominated me for the award (check)
-Nominate four other bloggers and provide links to their blogs (forthcoming)
-Notify the recipients (keep reading)

Now there are people who comment on my blog regularly, and I also read their blogs religiously. When I open bloglines, I scan to see if they posted recently and then race to their blogs. That said, I want to put out four “new” ones; blogs that I love just as much as “my regulars” but honestly I mostly lurk on these blogs because I am not part of their circle of blogging friends.

Neglecting My Kids – Mamma has a writing voice that I love. She juggles many children while maintaining a sense of humor and crafting quite a bit.

Latitude 61 – Another fellow Alaskan. We have emailed some, but truly she knits at a caliber I can’t even comprehend. Gorgeous. The colorwork is stunning. Beautiful cables. She knits the way I hope to someday and love reading about what she is knitting.

LavenderSheep – Spinner, Dyer, knitter in beautiful Bend, OR. Very talented woman.

Knitting Iris – Knits and dyes. Homeschools her boys. Wanders the country. Collects vintage fabrics. Takes gorgeous pictures all around her home state of Montana and anywhere else she travels to (just got back from Norway). Love.her.blog.

Now, like I said, I don’t know these people. I don’t email them. I don’t leave comments on their blogs often, so I will probably not notify them. I know, I am breaking the rules, but I am shy. Really though, check out their blogs. You’ll love them too.

Pathetic. All I can say is pathetic. Only 14 km in the last two weeks. The only positive thing I can say is I managed to drag my ass on the nordic track three times. It is sheer determination that allowed me to do this. I will do better. I will do better.

I have 153 km to go – 47 km done, if this is before your morning coffee. In order to make my goal, that means I need to ski a little under 20 km a week for the last 8 weeks. It will take some serious commitment for me to finish 200 km. Amazing what two slacker weeks can do to you. I will keep at it though.

Thanks for all the nice comments on my last post. I didn’t mean to whine. Mostly, I found it so comical to be so close to finishing something I want to finish and have it languish for days. It is one thing when you hate the project, but I love knitting the BSJ. It is such a fun knit. Will post about it soon, tell you about people who make my day, and post pictures of a wintry trip to Kenai. Did you know it was -22 at my folks’ home this morning? That is very, very cold for Kenai.

I am about 400 stitches, seaming shoulders, and picking out buttons from finishing BSJ. I have officially been this way for THREE DAYS now. How has my life gotten to be like this that I do not even have a moment to sit down and finish up what should take about an hour and a half of work? *sigh* This parenting thing is a damper on my knitting time. No snide remarks about why are you wasting your time blogging – I need to vent my frustration to someone who understands since my husband is constantly working lately which is unusual for him.

Worked out five times this week but only four times on the Nordic Track. I did 19 km total. I don’t envision doing many more kilometers in a week unless I add a workout in the week, which I hope to do. Still. If my math serves correctly, I will make my goal if I stay the course.

This week I worked out a total of three times giving me about 14km done. I put a ticker on the side and hope to keep updating it. We got a lot of snow this week (woo-hoo), so I was feeling it in my back muscles between the arm exercise on the Nordic Track and the shoveling.

Do you listen to music when you work out? What do you listen to? I am on the search for some new music that is pretty upbeat. Normally, I am not a mainstream, pop music gal; however, when I work out I can’t get enough of that crap. I find most of it from movie soundtracks and such, but lately I feel a little deprived of new music so I would love some ideas if you have some.

Kristina tagged me for the 8 random things meme…..

8. Yesterday we scraped and sanded our deck. Today we will paint the thing.

7. I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in-situ in 2000. If you are going to get a malignant melanoma diagnosis, you should hope for this kind. The cancer has not come back, and this is really good news for me.

6. My hair has lots of different textures: curly, wavy, straight. Every stylist who cuts my hair tells me this.

5. I was class president in high school.

4. Last night I watched the movie Sherrybaby because I heart Maggie Gyllenhaal.

3. I liked my kids’ binkie breath in the morning – both boys. For some reason I found it comforting.

2. Store made white cake with the really sugary frosting is one of my favorite desserts – lame, I know.

1. I feel a little grumpy today because I want to be knitting in the sunshine while the boys play, but I know I will not knit a stitch. However, I will find a painted deck very satisfying and will be chipper by the end of the day.

Tag you are it….Katrina, Katherine, Lisa, and anyone else who has read this list and want to tell us 8 things about yourself.