Ladies of the House--AK

I'm on Facebook!

2011-07-22T07:18:00.002-08:00

Grandma Tillies Bakery

Sheesh--it's about time LOL

WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME!

2011-07-17T18:18:00.005-08:00

I have been missing for awhile quite awhile from blogging, haven't I?

Sorry 'bout that! It all started when we went on vacation down to our

cabin for 2 1/2 weeks and when I got back I literally had a cake due the

next day, so I just kind of fell out of the habit of writing.

There are some new things happening around here and one of the biggest

is a possible retail storefront for Grandma Tillies Bakery! We are in the

paperwork stage right now and the whole process seems as slow as

molasses in January to me.

It is just a tiny space, only 209 sq. ft, but the good part is it is right in

the downtown area and easily reached by walking. There is plenty of

parking and a nice big sidewalk in front at street level, all important

things to consider in a retail location.

I will not be baking there, but will bake in my health department

approved kitchen and packaging everything there to sell down in the

store. The owners of the building are kind enough to lease me an extra

refrigerated display case they have in storage, so I will be able to sell

things like cream pies and parfait type desserts.

So wish me luck, I will be updating as things move along.

Here is my husband inside the new space (which we will be painting

a nice light shade of vintage yellow) My plan is to decorate so it looks

like a kitchen from the 1950's era.

MONDAY MAPLE SALMON

2011-06-06T21:05:00.005-08:00

There is quite an assortment of vessels to watch

out on the water now that everyone is coming

back to town. At any time you can watch mega

yachts driving by next to commercial fishing

boats and the huge Coast Guard cutter.

Today I thought this was interesting:

The first barge had 2 huge mounds of sand or gravel and

is headed towards the airport.

The 2nd barge has a huge crane on it, along with assorted

other vehicles and equipment. We only have one road

through town, so it probably makes a whole lot more

sense to move this stuff on the water rather than

getting out and blocking traffic for miles.

Our part-time neighbor is here now and has been out

fishing a few times. He doesn't keep all of the salmon

he catches, he brings us quite a bit of it. I am always

looking for new ways to fix salmon and came across

this recipe that is kind of a teriyaki that is made

with maple syrup. It is really good and very easy.

It is as simple as mixing a few ingredients

pour them over the fish in the pan, marinate

for 30 minutes and cook for 20 minutes

at 400 degrees.

Delicious!

MAPLE SALMON

Ingredients

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture.
Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes,
or until easily flaked with a fork.

THE GREAT WEATHER CONTINUES

2011-06-02T09:10:00.002-08:00

It has not rained in so long! The weather is unusual

everywhere and we are fortunate enough to be on

the receiving end of unusually NICE weather.

Everyday we come upstairs and see this:

It is so hard to believe that parts of the country are

being pounded by tornadoes!

Check out the eagles on the breakwater in front of

my daughter's school. I counted 36 and that doesn't

include the ones flying around. If you click the

picture it should get larger:

The darker birds are also Bald Eagles, they are just

immature. The signature white head of the Bald Eagle

comes later.

I found this in the store the other day and thought it

was interesting--Beef Bacon. I read the label and there

are no nitrates or nitrites because it isn't made

like regular bacon. There is almost no fat and it

is made down in WA state.

The ingredients are Beef, Water, Sea Salt,

Organic Honey and Celery Powder--that's it.

I bought a package (on sale for $4.99) and it was

really good! I can't stand that fake bacon in the

vegetarian aisle. This texture is almost the same

as regular bacon and it has a nice flavor without

being at all greasy.

I can't remember the regular price, but I will

be buying this from now on when I have a

recipe that calls for bacon.

I leave you with another cream puff from here in town.

This person was driving ahead of us. Although it looks

like he is heading left, he was actually driving straight.

I suppose it is kind of balanced by the way it is leaning

down towards the right...

Have a great day!

DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY...

2011-05-30T15:34:00.001-08:00

CELEBRATING SPECIAL PEOPLE POST

2011-05-29T12:49:00.003-08:00

It has been a packed week with many, many

activities. First was our younger daughter's

graduation from the 8th grade. It was a

nice ceremony with a few songs by the

younger kids and an inspirational talk

given by the pastor.

Isn't technology great? Here are the scuzzies

(my daughter and 2 nieces) performing a

song during the graduation ceremony. My

brother is holding his iPhone and my mom

and niece are in WA state watching the

whole thing live--so cool!

Then on Thursday a friend that my husband went to

school with visited us from Poland. He works for

one of the cruise lines and this was one of the stops.

He was very sophisticated compared to us! He has

traveled the entire world on the cruise line, even

Antarctica! He showed us a map on his laptop

that has push pins of all the places he has visited

and the map was nearly full except for most

of Africa. He brought us a bottle of red wine

and I made Beef Bourginon with it.

I wonder what he thought after leaving here...

just look at the shirt my husband is wearing LOL

And then that same day it was our older daughter's

20th birthday! I was so slammed with orders that

I wasn't able to make a masterpiece for her, but

I did manage to make a red velvet with cream

cheese frosting that we all enjoyed very much.

Mostly because we got to have actual pieces of

cake, not just leftovers and scraps.

We surprised her with a ticket for her best

friend to come and visit her here while we

are gone in June. They will have so much

fun, play tourist and probably laugh way

too much.

In case you ever wondered what 100 gingerbread

men cookies looks like...

THIS WILL HELP

2011-05-25T07:55:00.003-08:00

I received this information from a friend today about fixing the
budget problems the US is facing. It seems to me like all of the
"fixes" that are being proposed don't really make a drop in the
bucket as far as dollar amounts.

If the following ideas were enacted the dollar savings to the
American people would be staggering. I really don't understand
how this all got to the point it is at, but I have read what the original
Founding Fathers wanted for the leadership of America, and it most
definitely was not what we have now.

Congressional leaders were supposed to serve their term and then
someone else would be elected while that person went back to their
life. Somehow it has morphed into lifelong careers with more and
more benefits being voted in for themselves while they control the
entire structure of America.

Please read and if you agree, copy and paste into an email and send
it along.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only

3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it.

That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to

become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

I'm asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty

people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the

message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. Term Limits.
12 years only, one of the possible options below..
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when

they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security

system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system,

and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay

will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the

same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.

Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in

Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned

citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home

and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take

three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. It is time.

WILL IT EVER GET DARK?

2011-05-24T08:06:00.006-08:00

I woke up at 4:00am this morning and it

was bright light outside. Like, total daylight.

It can really mess with your mind! It seems

like time to get up, but unless you want to

be tired the rest of the day you have to

make your mind rest again and get back

to sleep. Some people put up dark

curtains, but that would make total

sense now, wouldn't it.

My husband just went ahead and got up.

He got a new iPhone, so 4:00 am is as

good a time as any to figure it out, right?

Some friends of my husband were heading

out to bear hunt for a week and called to

ask if he would take their gear out to the

remote cabin for them.

We have a drop bow boat that goes right up

to shore, so they took their boat and he

followed them with all the gear. They

anchored their boat in the bay and he was

able to go right to the shore with their

heavier stuff, which helps a lot.

Before he did that he went out early in the

morning and set a skate, then went back

and pulled it up after he dropped them off.

A skate is a long line that you lay along the

bottom of the ocean with 15-30 baited hooks

on it. The bottom fish smell the bait and grab

the hooks. This is a way to catch some

really big fish if you manage to pick the

right spots.

He must have picked the right spot because

there was treasure on the line when they

pulled it up:

These may be uber-ugly, but boy do they

taste good! They are Ling Cod and their

mouths are massive with very sharp teeth.

It is common to pull a full sized King Salmon

into the boat with one of these buggers

attached onto it.

We had fish and chips last night and I have to

say they are right up there with halibut as

far as taste--yum!

Ta da! The other skate he set had this nice

halibut on it. My husband realized that

the best way to deal with these guys onboard

is to hogtie them head to tail with rope into

a U shape. Just stunning them and sticking

them into a cooler is asking for disaster.

The reason being that they will act like they

are dead and then will come back to life when

you least expect it. Just picture a fish this

size onboard with you, flipping and swinging

that body around like a sheet of plywood!

People have had their legs broken, been

knocked overboard, and lost their gear

because of these buggers suddenly coming

back to life. No, tie them up like a sausage

and stick them in the back of the boat!

Sunday was my daughter's school picnic.

There are 6 students in the school, so their

families were invited and some members

of the church came along too. It was a

nice day, a little cool, so the fire felt really

good. If you click the picture you can see

the Alaska ferry arriving in the background.

Little boys and sticks...

Did any of you watch the Royal Wedding?

Remember the priest that married them?

After we ate the teacher sent the kids out on a

scavenger hunt. They picked a partner...

...and off they go! First prize was $10.00 to split. Now

that's worth running for.

Look at them out there searching for stuff...

The loot...

Kinda cool...seaweed stretched across the rocks and dried:

After the scavenger hunt the kids were given soakers

to, well, soak each other!

It was a fun day, nice and relaxing.

The latest in my older daughter's footwear.

WEDDING CAKE COMPETITION

2011-05-23T12:03:00.003-08:00

This weekend was the Seafood Festival 2011

here in town. It is a huge celebration of the

biggest industry in southeast Alaska--

seafood!

There were 2 very well known chefs that

attended and prepared a 5 course gourmet

meal. The dinner was sold out and they

held a cake competition during the dinner.

Our theme was Ocean Dreams and the

cakes needed to be at least 2 tiers and

serve 40 people minimum.

The cakes were served as the dessert

course for everyone and the winner received

a $75.00 gift certificate to a store in town,

plus recognition and pictures in the paper.

Here is my cake that came in 2nd place:

I made the glass ball and bubbles out of

gelatin, as well as the seaweed. The sand

was sugar and the grass is buttercream. The

cake was 100% edible.

The winning cake:

It was fun, but lots and lots and lots of time!

The rest of the weekend was really busy with

fishing and a picnic that I will post about

tomorrow when I have a bit more time.

FOOD MATTERS

2011-05-18T13:43:00.002-08:00

THE FLYING CAKE

2011-05-16T12:56:00.006-08:00

You know that feeling of relief you get when

a looming project that has weighed heavily

on your mind is finally complete?

Well I feel that relief right this very moment.

The cake is gone, on it's way and out of my hands.

I haven't heard yet if it got there safe and sound,

but you can be sure if it hadn't I would have

definitely heard by now. The bride called me

already first thing early this morning and she

called me twice yesterday. Poor thing! It

must be torture not to be able to even see

what your cake looks like and to envision

it being moved around and loaded on the

plane by strangers, hoping that everyone

is being careful with it.

My husband came to my rescue yesterday and

built me a box out of thin plywood to enclose

the cake for transport.

I put the cake on white foam core and we then

adhered that down to a piece of plywood that

was cut to fit it. This gave a very sturdy base

so the cake wouldn't be bent or tweaked as

it was being moved. Other than tipping it,

I think tweaking the base is the worst thing

for a tiered cake because it causes the layers

to shift which can crack the icing and move the

decorations out of place.

I clearly marked on the box on all 4 sides

so anybody glancing at it would have a good

understanding about keeping everything

upright. I have no idea how many people

will have their hands on this thing at the

other end, so better to be safe than sorry.

Then my husband had the brilliant idea to

print a picture and tape it to the top of the

box so that anyone touching the box would

understand what is inside and know exactly

how fragile it is. Plus I put the ribbon for

the outside of the cake base in an envelope

for the bride to attach once the cake was

set up. I usually do that before delivering

the cake, but in this case it would have

had big holes in it from the screws in

the box.

The bride also ordered matching cupcakes, so

those went along in separate boxes...

...along with the decorated fish cookies on a

sealed platter for the groom:

Here is the official cake portrait right before being

sealed into the box:

All of the flowers were handmade and edible:

The flight was scheduled for a 10:30 departure, so after

an urgent phone call from me at 9:45 my husband came

home from the job site and quickly screwed the box to

the cake base:

and carried the heavy thing out to the car for me.

If you have never picked up a cake like this it

would probably surprise you how heavy all

of that butter and sugar can be!

Here we are at Harris Air with the goodies stacked

on a cart waiting to be loaded onto the plane:

The plane had just returned from a morning trip and

was still open on the runway:

A friend of ours was over at the airport, so he let us in

the secure area to check out the plane before they

reloaded it:

This is the front compartment where they told me

the cake would be sitting, but I don't think it was

going to fit. They had only 2 passengers scheduled

to fly, so they may have just put it in a regular seat,

I don't know, we didn't stick around to see.

Look at this beautiful plane! These planes don't look

this big when they fly by our window. They are very

busy now taking tourists all over the place for fishing,

hunting and flightseeing trips.

Another plane inside the hangar...

Fed Ex was coming in as we were standing there...

Coming back home over the bridge I saw there is a

cruise ship in town and we saw another one coming

on the horizon. The weather is very pretty and warm,

which always makes for a more pleasant visit.

Coming back by another harbor on the way home. I feel

very fortunate not to have to drive by concrete high

rises and strip malls to get home...

O.K., time to put my feet up for a couple

of minutes and take a refreshment break.

One more cake today and then I am finished!

FROM MY MOM

2011-05-15T11:31:00.002-08:00

Click the picture to enlarge it

and read.

FRIDAY ALREADY?

2011-05-13T08:49:00.002-08:00

We woke up to another gorgeous day! The temperature

fools you though because it looks warm but overnight

the neighbor's roof developed a bit of frost. It warms

up beautifully during the day and the part time

people are really pouring into town now.

It's funny because one of the ways you can tell

them apart is A) they are naturally tanned and

B) they are always in the grocery store lines

asking for something that isn't available.

Case in point: A tanned man in creased slacks

was holding up the entire line at the store by

insisting that there HAD to be at least one

piece of blah-blah-blah cheese in this

building. I say blah-blah-blah because

I have no idea what he was asking about.

It's not like we don't have cheese, we have a

lot of cheese. In fact, the deli case has some

pretty weird sounding cheese in it that did

not come from this country.

Plus I saw a man in the store last night

with a pomeranian under his arm.

Now that is one of my pet peeves, sorry.

I go into the grocery store for food and

the last thing I want are your dog's

cooties floating around my food. Blech.

Can't they sit in the car and wait for

you like all of the other canines?

Oh, and another tell-tale sign that you

are a visitor. Camo. Believe it or not,

head to toe camouflage is not what

people wear here everyday.

I saw a woman yesterday that had the

entire outfit, from her safari hat

to her hunting boots, all completely

covered in camo. And the reflector

sunglasses added the perfect touch.

I don't know if she was hiding from

someone or if she thought there was

going to be a grizzly walking downtown,

but she definitely caught my attention.

This morning:

Our older daughter worked all day and then went out

and split all the wood my brother gave us from the trees

in his yard. Our younger daughter went to school all

day and then went and worked with my husband at

his job site. I love ambitious kids, don't you?

Speaking of the job site, my husband was replacing windows

on a very old house. He pulled one of the original windows

out and there was a paper rolled up underneath it as

a shim. He unrolled it and it is an original newspaper

from Seattle in 1938. Look at the headline:

We are unrolling it slowly so it doesn't fall apart!

The beginning of the wedding order that is going by

plane out to a village; fish cookies for the groom:

Back down to the kitchen--Happy Friday!

HERE THEY COME...

2011-05-11T08:08:00.002-08:00

First cruise ship of the year came this morning:

The good part is this means the stores in town will start

being open more hours now. The one and only craft-type

store we have has been closed all winter on Sunday and

Monday, so when I need ribbon and things it can get

frustrating that they are closed so much.

Well the weather is just as weird here as everywhere

else. One day it is warm and sunny, the next it drops

back down to 40 degrees. Yesterday it was warm

enough to stick my little dog out on the deck in

the sun and next thing I know he is crying out

there because he is getting hit by hail!

I have a very busy end of the week coming up

with a bit of a nerve-wracking twist to it. I am

making a 3 tiered wedding cake for one of

the outlying villages and I will be sending it

on a float plane to the wedding. Yes, I know,

it's madness. She also ordered 40 decorated

fish cookies for the groom and cupcakes.

She said it started off with them just going

to the justice of the peace to get married and

the word got out and now the entire town

is invited. Funny how that happens LOL

I have a plan in place to make the cake sturdy

enough to travel on the plane, I am just

hoping the weather is good so there isn't a

lot of bouncing around. The very last thing I

will do is pound a wooden dowel down through

the middle of the whole cake and that will

go down into the cake board and hold the

layers in place.

I'll be sure to post pictures of the process.

Now off to the kitchen for the day...

THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE

2011-05-09T08:48:00.003-08:00

Boy, what a controversy, huh? Some people say it is

absolutely authentic and we should just drop it already,

others are saying there are problems with it and it

should be investigated.

I listened to this man today and what I found interesting

about him is that he actually voted for Obama and is

not interested in calling him a liar. BUT, he is a graphics

expert and his background compels him to investigate

the issues that keep cropping up with the authenticity

of the document that was presented.

What do we, as the American public, do about this

problem? Why are these issues not being addressed

by the White House?

I realize there are bigger problems at the moment,

but in the end, if our Commander in Chief is not

lawfully sitting in the White House, where does

that leave us?

Even if you are a huge Obama fan and think he's

the greatest thing since sliced bread, doesn't it at

least make you wonder why someone would do

this if the original birth certificate is all good?

Are you able to sit there and defend something

that the evidence reveals to be false?

Oh, and just as an afterthought...does anybody else

think it's just a little bit of a poke at the American

people that the person signing the certificate

at the very bottom was named U.K. Lelee.

Say it fast--Ukelele--like the Hawaiian

instrument?

Come on---Seriously?

Although, I did hear about a Pastor Sin

once and also a Dr. Sick....and then there

was the book The Yellow River by I.P. Freely

and of course the famous Under the Bleachers

by Seymour Butts.

LOL

Watch for yourself and decide:

Very Interesting Reading

2011-05-02T21:29:00.003-08:00

If you are at all interested in the current predicament our government

is in as far as the deficit, I have provided a link to an excellent PDF book

that is free to read.

It explains in plain, everyday language where some of the problems have

stemmed from that have gotten the United States to the point where we

are trillions of dollars in debt with no end in sight.

I read this from start to finish and when I have some extra time I plan to

go back and re-read it slowly and make sure I fully understand it all.

Alpha Strategy

Catching up post...

2011-04-30T09:08:00.003-08:00

The scuzzies are at it again! They had themselves a

bit of a tea party with real cucumber sandwiches

and tiny little tea cups.

Notice the little fingers daintily raised:

We have had some spring weather, with days of real

warmth followed by days of damp cold and then back

to the warmth again. In other words, who knows

what we are going to get(at least it's not tornadoes!)

The bakery has been very busy with lots of cakes and

other baked goods. It seems like there is always a

reason to order a cake--I can't get over how many

baby shower cakes I do! I have 4 more already on

my schedule and more waiting in the wings to

decide on themes, colors, etc.

The town is really starting to get busy now with

all the lodge owners returning to open things

up for their coming clients. Plus the seasonal

people are trickling back in; our next door

neighbor will be here the 3rd week in

May for his 3 month stint. The grocery

store is where you really see the difference--

the yachts come back and all of their

help is in the store buying up supplies.

They fill 2 or 3 carts at a time with

food and have to box it up to take out

to the harbors. It is not uncommon to

stand in line behind them and hear the

totals of $1500 and more just for

groceries. They don't blink and eye, they

just smile and pay. Gulp! I guess if you

are going to choke on the cost of food

for a yacht, then you probably can't

afford to have a yacht.

I wouldn't be a very good yacht owner.

I am way too frugal and the thought of

putting thousands just into the fuel tank

would do me in.

I don't know the exact date of the first large

cruise ship, but I do have customers that

have placed an order with me for a large

anniversary they will be celebrating on

one of the ships. I will be supplying the

cakes and Alaskan themed cookies for

them. I have had those requests before,

but in the past the cruise lines have said

no. They don't allow other food to be

brought on board, especially if it is food

that their chef would supply (like a cake)

When I told the customer that she called

the cruise line and they made an exception.

I have a feeling it had something to do with

the fact that she and her entire family have

the penthouse suites reserved on the ship

and given the state of the economy the ship

may have to consider their bottom line.

My husband has been extremely busy

for what seems like months now putting

in a new restaurant on town. The old

Chinese restaurant was torn out of a

large hotel and this new one will be

fish and chips, burgers and breakfast.

My brothers are doing all of the

sheetrock and painting inside. I will

post pictures of the progress and they

have a target opening date of sometime

in May-June.

Our older daughter is house sitting for

a Coast Guard family that has been relocated

back to the south. They flew down to Alabama

just in time for the tornadoes that did all the

damage. They are O.K., they are down on the

coast, it looks like the damage was much

farther inland.

Our younger daughter is finishing 8th grade

and is looking forward to another week at

youth group camp in Juneau. After that we

are taking a break and heading down south

for some time away.

Jane, if you are reading this maybe we could

get together when I get down there? I'll

bring you some chocolate cookies...

Ob La Di Ob La Da

2011-04-25T14:11:00.002-08:00

WHERE OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE GOING

2011-04-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Via: Heritage Foundation

WHITE COLLAR TATOOS

2011-04-10T09:49:00.002-08:00

For the person who has everything...

LOL

A WHALE OF A DAY

2011-03-27T21:38:00.007-08:00

Well it's that time of the year again--Herring

Season is right around the corner. The planes

are buzzing around the skies all day long on

the lookout for the huge schools of herring

and the wildlife has returned in abundance

to gorge on the millions of fish that will

be spawning here soon.

It was another warm, sunny day so we

delivered a cake before church, went to

church, enjoyed an all-you-can-eat shrimp

Mission's fundraiser after church,

delivered 2 more cakes and then

decided to head out on the water.

We left the dock and it wasn't 3 minutes out

that we had a HUGE Humpback cross right

directly in front of us! No picture--we were

all taken aback by it and slowed the boat

down to a standstill just to watch.

Soon after we saw the local tour boat go by

filled with people that were out whale

watching for the day.

We went a few minutes farther and stopped

the boat and what do you know...

Here comes another pair. These were so close you can

easily see the blow holes on the front.

We turned the boat off and were just watching when

this one decided to dive.

Pretty view with a few seagulls on the rocks. Right now

it seems like Alfred Hitchcok's "The Birds" movie

since there are hundreds of seagulls around town waiting

on the herring fishery. A lot of the larger roofs in town

(like the large hotel) are white from all of the bird

poo being deposited on it.

Somebody got a little too hyped up from all

the whale action and had to be locked in

a body vise-grip until he could calm

himself down. Sheesh.

We went a ways farther to get away from all the whales

and found a shallow channel to anchor up in and fish for

a few herring with a pole. These guys are great bait

for halibut and they love to bite the multiple tiny

hooks on a light fishing pole. My daughter went in

the kayak to paddle around a bit since the water

was so nice and flat.

Here there were 4 herring on the line--2 flew

off into the boat (dogs are inspecting them)

Lots of wildlife all around--eagles, sea lions, ducks...

Lilly just can't stop staring at the fish in the bucket.

Neo just can't stop staring at the fish in the water.

So here is my younger daughter happily paddling

while we all enjoy the silence...

and look what surfaced 50 feet away...

and brought their friends...

these are not zoomed--we were surrounded...

You can't believe the sound of the foooossssshhhhhhh

as they blow one by one in the silence. My daughter

said she could hear them pulling air in after they

blew too since she was down on the water.

It. Was. Amazing.

and Awesome.

and Breathtaking.

and Scary because my daughter

was in the kayak, in the water.

with

the

whales.

We had her hug the shore and we all

watched them, then she was able to get

back in the boat.

Eventually a rain squall came over and

they all went away, so we headed home.

What an amazing sight.

This was a cool shot of Mt. Edegecumbe as we were

going by. And we had another whale come alongside

us as we were headed home too, just kind of keeping

pace with us as we went along.

I thought this was a neat shot of some of the huge

boats that are here waiting for the Herring Fishery.

That should be happening here in the next couple

of days...

CRAVING FRESHLY BAKED GOODS

2011-03-25T11:30:00.007-08:00

Living where we do, we are accustomed to doing

without the things that most everybody in the

lower 48 feels like they can't live without.

No Walmart, Red Robin, Sonics or Costco.

There is not a single mall, bowling alley,

skating rink or Home Depot.

But what we do have is a community that

has learned how to make things happen

and we definitely learn how to make use

of the things we DO have.

There are people that live in outlying

communities that are much more

remote than we are. In fact, compared

to them we look like a metropolis.

These people have discovered that

I make fresh bread and cakes.

So now I am packaging my baked goods

into boxes and taking them over to the

Harris Air to fly them out to the small

communities.

I was a little nervous the first time I

shipped a cake, but after meeting the

pilots and the people at the front desk

I knew they would take excellent care

of the baked goods. Plus, they said

if they wrecked it they would just eat

the evidence.

Hardy har har har.

So here is a birthday cake for a camera

enthusiast going down to Klawock:

Cake box snug inside a priority box

Bubble wrap cushion on top

Sealed up with instructions everywhere

Delivered to the nice people at Harris Air.

They are very helpful and just very pleasant.

Most of the items I make can be flown for

approx. $12.00 a box to any of the outlying

communities. That's a pretty darn good

deal considering what it costs to fill up

with fuel in your car to drive somewhere

to get freshly baked goods!

Yesterday's shipment--freshly baked

Chocolate Zucchini, Orange Cranberry,

Lemon Blueberry, Banana and Cinnamon

Swirl bread:

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

2011-03-24T10:40:00.002-08:00

This seems like just yesterday to me...

Look who's 14 years old today!

Happy Birthday Valla Dalla!

Poet, Math Whiz, Little Sister

and Book Worm.

You give teenagers a GOOD name.

Love, Mom and Dad

A TYPE OF ACUPUNCTURE

2011-03-22T08:45:00.006-08:00

It has been a long few months for me, with lots of back

pain from a bulging disc. I don't go to regular doctors

for my back since the only 2 suggestions are either

surgery or strong pain meds and I am not interested

in either one of those.

My daughter works at a chiropractic clinic, so she talked

me into an appointment to meet with the doctor there

about my back and neck. She adjusted my neck (which

really helped) but my back was just too painful to man-

ipulate.

She offered me a new technology that she wanted to

learn more about. Since it is non-invasive I thought, Why

not? Like she said, the worst that could happen would

be a waste of time.

The program is called AcuGraph II, digital meridian

imaging. The entire thing is done with the aid of a

computer, a moistened probe and a small hand held

machine that emits hertz.

Basically the doctor has me hold a metal ground and

she uses a small probe that is hooked up to the

computer to measure the energetic status of my

acupuncture meridians.

The readout is then analyzed by the computer and

recommendations are shown in a very detailed

graph of my body. She then takes the small hertz

machine and holds it over each meridian (energy

point) to encourage my body to equalize the hertz

to the machine.

It sounds very strange, I know. But after reading

about it in Chinese medicine it makes total sense.

I have had several surgeries in my lifetime and that

alone will interrupt the Qi (pronounced "chee") or

life force energy in the body.

I have had 4 treatments so far and the difference is

amazing. When I went into the doctor I felt a like a

jigsaw puzzle that someone dumped out on the table.

During the treatments I felt like the doctor had put

a few of my pieces back together, then she put the

border of the puzzle together, now we have groups

of pieces being put together.

There were some painful times. Not during the

treatment, that was painless.But later as the energy

cycled through my body I would have different areas

of my body hurt pretty bad.

One night my right hand swelled to the point that I

wondered if something was really wrong. Then

another time my left rib cage felt like there was a

sword in it. One night my right leg hurt so bad that

I had it elevated and the pain was intense. But the

pain was short lived and then would just disappear.

I have 2 weeks off from treatment and then will

start again.

If you would like to know more about this procedure,

you can read about it more here: AcuGraphII

After reading about this and experiencing it, I think

most people would benefit from having these treatments.

I have read that people that suffer from things like Multiple

Sclerosis respond really well to this procedure.

One of the readouts talks about foods that benefit your

body. Not allergies, but foods that enhance your body

according to your detailed readouts. And it talks about

what hurts your body emotionally and I was blown away

by how accurate it was--I mean blown away.

Nobody knows those things that you think about inside

your head, yet this procedure and test showed me exactly

what I knew about myself and how some of those things

are very harmful to me physically--it was WEIRD.

Blockage of the energy meridians can result in a whole

host of negative health conditions. If you have some time,

read up on this online--you may be very surprised by what

you discover. But don't wait for your MD to talk to you

about that, it will never happen.

Mommy's Nose is Scary!

2011-03-20T09:28:00.001-08:00