We watched the ceremonial start of the Iditarod this morning.
Breakfast with friends at the White Spot then a loop through downtown admiring the awesome sled dogs, beautiful furs and all the people.
We love doing this and it was so great to witness Elizabeth’s evident enjoyment and excitement over the dogs.
Her cheeks got a little cool at the end, hence her concerned look in this photo.
I’m so glad we are able to share these experiences with her.
She was a trooper!
Talkin’ all foolish to the dog for the sheer pleasure of making him wag his tail.
YouTube of Bing wagging
Sheep herding was fabulous yesterday. It was in the twenties and the sun was out and warm on our faces. The sheep and dogs were cooperative. Elizabeth, Kate and I did a little work in the 1/2 acre field with an accommodating flock of ewes. Kate worked the best she’s worked for months. I was very proud of her. Elizabeth was in her Kelty pack on my chest and laughed thru our session. She enjoys watching the sheep.
Bing worked very hard for Suzanne. He got a little lippy at the end but he was so glad to see her and the sheep again. They were working on the more difficult driving moves he will need to master for AKCs HI level. He had a harder time with his aways and go byes and was dropping sheep at the end. Suzanne worked patiently with him and he did some nice work at the end.
We were the last to leave. Suzanne and Bing took the sheep back up top together. It is always so exciting to watch him do ‘real’ farm work with Suzanne. I love seeing him take the sheep out of the field and up the road away from the fences. The ewes know the path back to their shed and hay so they generally cooperate but that doesn’t diminish the pleasure of watching him work.
Elizabeth had a late breakfast and then a nap in my lap with the warm sun on our faces.
And the full video on YouTube here
Hiroshi, who owns Cafe @ the Library and Naruto, brought in four mouth watering knee wobbling good cakes for us to enjoy this morning.
Delicate light crumb, whipped cream frosting just barely sweetened, and fruit in the center and decorating the top.
Amazingly astonishingly tasty.
Life is sweet
Enjoying some Fire Island goodness
Bear!
Bear!!!
And so VERY glad we no longer have carpeting.
Difficult to see but two upper teeth have broken through.
She clicks her bottom teeth against the erupting ivory and looks most pleased with herself.
Our friends Susie and Alan have finished their brief break and Maclaren River Lodge is open again.
We go to MRL every August for pie and ptarmigan and caribou and good company. It’s on mile 42 of the Denali Highway, a mostly unpaved road that takes you through the most beautiful that Alaska has to offer. I’ve been visiting the Denali highway since I moved to Alaska in ’93 and love it up there.
When we are ‘homesick’ for the lodge we visit their weather cam to see what’s going on. Today the cam captured a dog sled pulling out of the lot. How cool!
Uncle Walter built us a beautiful solid wood table.
The legs are trees he felled on the Jo’s property, the slab top built from planks from Fairbanks.
It is gorgeous and we love it.
Allen and Petersen delivered our new appliances today.
Our old fridge came with the house and was manufactured late 80’s. I think 1988? The washer was our first big purchase together in 2000, and the dryer was a yard sale find about the same time.
I suspect the nightly diapers aged the w/d kinda quickly.
(a little later in the day)
Well the washer has run a load of dog blankets, our clothes, and diapers. It’s quiet. It has a start button and a locking lid. It rinses cold only. The diapers came out very clean.
The dryer arrived with a big monster dent and they didn’t have a comparable in Anchorage. So it’ll be a couple weeks while the barge gets the next order into town. That’s okay.
The new fridge with bottom freezer is wonderful. I installed the ice maker with a little help. It is also quieter than the old fridge.
The nice gentleman from Allen and Petersen called and asked if they could come early as they were ahead of schedule. When’s the last time that happened to you? They were fast, skilled and courteous. We liked them.
We were going to donate the w/d but no one we’ve called want them. They don’t take 10 year old appliances, go figure.
Need a free washer/dryer? There’s a bit more life in them if you’re not doing diapers and dog blankets.
