A Bad Day in the Dry Cabin

I wasn't really feeling the whole Dry Cabin thing yesterday.  It was -44 and I either ate something bad or had a stomach bug thing because, in the -44 degree outdoors, I needed to use the "restroom" multiple times (of course I did....).  In reality, it could have been just one long visit to the "restroom."  But that would have induced frostbite.  So it was broken up into three visits, with warm-up sessions inside each time that caused fogged-up glasses from leaving -44 degree air and stepping into 68 degree air.

When I finally could take off all the layers, I slipped off my boots and put my feet into my slippers only to find there was snow in there!  With my foggy glasses still foggy, I bent over to grab the chunk of snow and WHAM! Smashed my forehead on the mitten and hat drawer that was still open.  

Later that evening we discovered that the boiling point of propane is -44 (of course it is...).  We use propane to cook.  Our propane tank is located outside.  It was so hard to get a flame for dinner that we didn't eat until 9:30.  

While there are days that I like our dry cabin, yesterday was miserable and I was seriously wishing for modern, non-arctic living.  At least it's still beautiful where we live.  I have to stay positive, because we won't have running water for a while....

Yearning for a Snow Day

We've had snow here for over a month now.  In all, we have close to a foot of snow on the ground, and thick patches of snow on the branches of all the spruce trees.  As we don't really get wind here, it always feels magical outside and all cozy inside.



This has me yearning for a snow day.  You New Englanders know them well.  They are the truest gift of time, where the day can be filled with knitting and cooking and no guilt that you really should be doing something else.  But alas...

One of the things about working in Alaska's school system is that people are accustomed to driving in the snow.  Everyone has snow tires or studded tires.  Even the school buses have chains for the tires.  The DOT trucks throw gravel on the road instead of salt and sand.  Kids go out for recess until the thermometer hits 20 degrees below zero.  Winter is a fact of life.  It's half the year up here.  All of that means we don't get snow days.

Not never... last year right before Thanksgiving we had this freak warming in the night, so instead of snow it rained.  But the ground was still frozen, so the rain froze instantly on everything.  And then the temperatures immediately dropped to below zero again.  There were two inches of ice on the roads and no way to treat it, because salt doesn't work below a certain temp.  So we had two days off.

Unfortunately this is a rarity and I have had no anticipation of something like that happening again.  That is, until Friday, when we received multiple emails from principals informing us of a fast developing storm that might bring up to 2 feet of snow Sunday night, with gusts of wind up to 55mph! "Don't forget your phone tree" and "Review procedures for delayed openings" my bosses declared.  And there it was....that familiar flicker of excitement and possibility returned to my belly.  Hope.  I remembered longingly the feeling of the phone ringing at 5:30 and sitting up and cheering, before even answering it!  Is it possible I could receive this glorious gift of time?

It's not looking too promising.  The weather advisory has been taken off NOAA's website.  Snow is "likely" with the possibility of freezing rain.  In Alaska, just snow isn't enough.  My hope lies in the freezing rain.  The only downside is the freezing rain and wind will take away my magical treescape outside.  So I guess there'd better be a snow day to make up for it!

Wanting Memories

I'm spending the morning listening to the radio and preparing stuffing.  The turkey is still frozen (again) though not to the crisis level of last year.  Maybe next year we'll finally be able to properly defrost a turkey in time for Thanksgiving!  So the turkey is in a tub of water.  I have onions and celery chopped for the stuffing and am sauteing chorizo for the stuffing as I type.  Everything I am cooking this year I have made before, so I wanted at least one new recipe.  I got this recipe from NPR.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Lee is out running last minute errands - trash run, water run, and last minute Fred Meyer run.  Just got the phone call.  Every store is out of sage, so the stuffing will be sageless.  Oh well.  I'm sure it will still be tasty.  Or not.  Such is life.  

Me, I'm enjoying the quiet of the morning, listening to a concert on NPR with a men's vocal group.  They just sang Wanting Memories, originally written and sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock.  If you don't know the song, go to itunes and download it pronto!  It's beautiful and matches the mood of the morning.  

I am missing home this holiday.  The past few days I've been very teary, missing my family, my Meme's cooking, just the joy of everyone coming together, too much food, fun conversation, my mom, uncle Mark and Auntie laughing in the kitchen - they have great laughs.  I miss snuggling on the couch with my cousin.  It's the first time since we've been out here that I've truly missed it.  I even tried to get our guests into the tradition by asking them all to cook.  It didn't work, and really wasn't fair.  They are all bringing things, which is generous.  I think I wanted to try to replicate that feel of everyone coming together, working together to make it special.  

I also feel very blessed this morning.  I have wonderful memories fueling me through the morning.  And I have the most amazing husband.  He's been so loving these last few days and helpful without blinking an eye.  Our home is cozy and clean - such a blessing!  The light outside is dim and grey, but inside it's warm.  I feel grounded in cooking and dancing and listening to music.  We have guests coming over at 1:00, who will be happy to come together, missing their families as well.  We'll be spending our time playing Settlers of Catan.  No football or parade for us, as we have no TV!

Sending wishes for a wonderful day to everyone.  Here's hoping it's a day that makes many memories for you and yours. 

Alaskan Lingerie

This weekend it got chilly, down to 20 at night!  This prompted me to reach into my drawers of winter clothes and pull out my Alaskan Lingerie - the Flannel Nightie!

Here's a picture.  I'm not wearing it because that would be just too racy for the internet.

It's long - almost to my ankles, and has this lovely, simple ruffle around the neck.  You know, so as not to reveal too much.

On top of the obvious sex appeal that the grannie nightie - I mean, flannel nightie - brings, it has the bonus of being toasty warm.  Which, in Alaskan winters, is a must!  Function meets fashion.  Who could want anything more?

Spinning At Last!

For my 30th birthday (almost two years ago - yikes!) my parents generously fulfilled my birthday wish by giving me a beautiful spinning wheel.  It's a Kromski Minstrel in Mahogany stain.  A beautiful, compact, double treadle wheel, it fits perfectly in our small cabin.  However, I had never learned to use it, until this weekend.

The wheel did come with an instructional video.  Both Lee and I watched the video and tried to make it work.  It didn't.  I couldn't get the flyer to take in the yarn at all.  It was frustrating, and frankly, I really didn't understand how the whole thing was supposed to make yarn.  It didn't make sense.   So the wheel sat as decoration in our home back in NH, occasionally being treadled for fun.

When we moved to Fairbanks, I found a store here called A Weaver's Yarn that offers spinning lessons.  But I never felt we could afford it.  So I survived the winter content with knitting.  A few days ago, however, while out running errands, I turned down the back road where A Weaver's Yarn is located, on a whim, and ended up signing up for my private lesson.  That lesson was yesterday.

After two hours, I now understand how the wheel works.  Well, at least enough to make it take up the yarn.  My yarn isn't pretty yet.  But I'm getting there.  My assignment is to practice for 15-20 minutes each day until my next lesson, where I will learn to ply my singles that I create with my 15-20 minutes of daily practice.



I'm super excited to have a new pastime for the cold winter months.  I'll be busy with knitting and spinning all winter long!  I think Lee might be a little worried...

Cranberry Pickin'

It's that time of year in Fairbanks when the cranberries are ready for picking.  Last year we did no berry picking - we didn't know where to find them.  I was afraid that this year would be the same, with the plants in our backyard only producing a few handfuls.  But then Lee and I went for a walk on labor day.  I can't tell you where.  Real Alaskans don't reveal their prime picking spots (hence not knowing where to go picking).  But we went for a walk on a hill near town.  It was a place I'd never been.  As we walked down the trail, the woods to our left opened up to reveal a grove over grown with lowbush cranberries.  It was a sight to behold!  But alas, we were without containers, so had to return another day.

That day came on Thursday.  The week had gotten away from us and I was worried the berries would all be gone.  Surely someone else must know about this place.   At 7:30 at night, we got in the car, berry container in hand (old milk jug with the top cut wide) and returned to our secret spot.

Now, the sun has begun setting earlier and earlier, so we had about an hour and a half of usable daylight.  I hurried down the trail, not waiting for Lee as he took pictures of the sun setting on the golden birch trees.  Seriously, man!  We have berries to pick!  As I was walking (jogging) down the trail, I heard rustling in the trees next to me.  Some one was in the trees picking cranberries!  Crap!  I thought.  There really won't be any  left.  But she wasn't in our grove, so I kept on jogging.

I found our grove and lo and behold, it was still chockerblock full of cranberries.  We picked until it was too difficult to see in the dim light.


Aren't they sweet?  Juicy too!  The knees on my jeans were all red with berry juice from kneeling.



We left with a gallon of cranberries picked only in an hour!  Pretty impressive, I'd say.  I'll be going back again this weekend in hopes we can get more.

In the meantime, we have a gallon of cranberries frozen in the freezer.



And a new book on Alaskan wild berries and how to cook them.

A different kind of bravery

I haven't had my hair cut in almost a year.  It was getting really long.  Like, ratty long.  I needed a cut.  We live in Alaska.  Plus, I couldn't afford a cut.  Do you know where this is going?

I asked Lee to cut my hair for me.  No big deal.  Take off four inches.  Make it straight.  Easy.

I was wrong.  He took off at least seven inches.  It's really short.  Much shorter than I wanted.  Lee declared at the end of the saga that we were never doing that again.

I thought I was being Alaskan.  It was brave of me.  Now I need to access a different kind of bravery and feel okay with my new short haircut.