Putting the Cabin Away

Pumpkat for Halloween

Leaves were blowing off the Mountain Ash yesterday - yellow sleet flying. As I was driving out to the dental office my thoughts drifted back to this time of year while teaching school. I would be doing Halloween projects with the kids ~ cutting out pumpkins, accordion pleating dangling legs, cutting and pasting witches heads as well as doing math activities with pumpkins. Those were fun times. Caitlin asked me last night if I missed teaching... I'm on the fence! It was a wonderful time but it was wearing me out. I loved working with kids and doing projects. 

As I was browsing in my favorite on-line quilt shop I saw a pattern for vegetable cats...weird. I printed off the pumpkat photo and thought about copying the idea. I drew a version on freezer paper, cut out the pieces, found scraps of fabric to machine applique and went to work. Machine applique with invisible thread made the project a quick one. I had fun using some silver metallic thread to give the whiskers a little sparkle. I thought it could be used as a banner outside, a table topper, or a wall hanging during pumpkin time!

video

Well, this has been an experience that I probably won't try again...
Using my camera, I took video of the trip and downloaded it to the computer. It was saved in a format that the editing program didn't like so I had to troubleshoot... computer language is not my forte! 


I probably spent about 10 hours researching/troubleshooting/downloading programs before I ended up with this YouTube cut. I am disappointed with the quality, frames, etc...


Thanks to Annie (computer whiz daughter!) I can now do this the right way!

King Crab Harvest

We were invited to go along on a trip to pull up two crab pots. The day was clear and crisp~perfect to get some nice photos on the water.

Brother John's Delta is looking sharp ~ this is the second year on the paint job.

Wally and Colleen climb aboard.

Captain and First Mate head for the secret spot.

Wally in his favorite spot.

John was able to snag the buoy. Whew... the captain wouldn't have liked it if he'd missed.

The first pot looks empty...

Oh my, that's why it's empty ~ get out the cotton twine to mend it for the next trip.

Reaching for the bait sack was an ordeal ~ John was using a crowbar on the frozen humpies, trying to break them into smaller pieces.

 

The second pot was in better shape and even had a few crab for the cook pot. 

Miriam lights the crab cooker.

Baited and ready to set back overboard.

Photo op...

Colleen went for the gusto!

Crab Cook Wally used Rob's method of steam cooking~less salt water in the pot. This was a bone of contention with other members of the group.

Rinsing the cooked crab with fresh water.

First mate Miriam enjoying the view.

 Back at town, heading for the stall in the South Harbor.

 

Rigging 

I have been trying to put the video clips I took on this trip together to make a movie to post. For some unknown reason Picasa won't allow me to do it. Grrr   I have some nice footage to post too. 

That was an afternoon to remember!

Gobbler's Knob

Sunday we went for a hike after driving out Frederick Point Road. John wanted to hike up to the Cabin Creek Reservoir. He had been reading an article while I was driving. He looked up and said, "This is it. Pull over here and park on the side of the road." I pulled off the main road and we began walking up the spur. It was a nice uphill walk that continued going uphill. John commented a number of times that we should be at the reservoir soon. The road kept stretching out in front of us.

The autumn colors were wonderful; the glacier peaks and ice flows appeared and disappeared as we wound around the hills.

He realized that we were on a different spur road as we continued to climb.

 

I thought we should check out one of the muskegs to see if there were any cranberries to pick ~ they were few and far between. This was one of the three we found! There were a few tyttebær hanging out around the stumps.

John wanted to show the difference between the cranberry/tyttebær and the dogwood berry.

 A pile of moose droppings was along side of the road. Moose season is open now but this was the only sign we saw. We were passed by one truck driving up the hill and down again probably looking for a moose.

Posing along side of the road...

A muskeg pond shot...

John standing beside the road post after returning...

No, this is not the road to Cabin Creek Reservoir! Actually the local name for it is Gobbler's Knob (according to Wally and John Swanson!) We recommend walking this road and stopping up at a view spot for a coffee break ~ or take a truck/4 wheeler for fun.

Exciting Times on Nordic Drive

Saturday afternoon there were fireworks flying ferociously from Wally's driveway ~ well, it just sounded like that to those of us in the house!

I had taken a walk down to see if I could fix their printer. Mom was outside working on the rocks when I arrived; she's reclaiming the yard little by little! Dad was nowhere in sight at that point.

 

 On the way out the door we heard fireworks. I felt like investigating.  

All looked fine ~ the source of the commotion was John and Wally. Little did we know what caused it!

 Just before I rounded the corner and took this shot, the Whaler was careening down the driveway headed for John's shiny new Toyota Tacoma. The guys raced to stop it; as you see here, John is muscling the boat and Wally is trying to get blocks behind the wheels to stop further progress.

Whew... that was close!

After all the excitement we pushed that Whaler back up the driveway and into the garage where Wally will work on fixing the loose rail. Thanks to Vicki McIntosh for helping push that monster in (she witnessed the incident while walking to town).

John getting ready to lower the outboard ~ there must be a battery switch up at the steering console. 

After all the excitement we had to take a look at the new rig and test drive it... John drove Colleen and I up to the post office; I drove it back. Drives smooth, has a huge woofer in the back, rear-view mirror has a video while reversing and it's still clean!!

 

Time for Winterizing

It's that time of year again...John's favorite task looms! Really it is his least favorite thing to do before winter arrives ~ winterizing the outboards and stripping out the gear from the boat. This involves taking his notes from the last season, updating the information on the computer, and following those directions step by step. Let me tell you, this is not a one day operation...no, more like 3 days all totaled! No complaints from me though ~ every spring our motors have started right up!

The main has been fogged and greased...now it's time for the kicker that was probably run once this year.

 

Pave Paradise...

Another change in the landscape ~ beginnings of a new public safety/firehouse building. This is on Haugen Drive between Hammer & Wikan and the Post Office (opposite side of the road).  Progress...? I know the fire hall is in the middle of the busiest intersection of town, but I also hate to see the muskeg disappear on the bike path.

The Traveling Truck

Wally's red Ford was on its way to a new home in Seattle...so the call went out to the family to see if anyone needed anything sent down in the bed. Of course we always have boxes for Cashmere ~ little by little the girls are getting their stuff!  This time we were able to clean out the storage boxes under the bed. Originally I thought getting the  rocking chairs down to Brooke would be great and then it escalated... 

John and Wally playing the packing game ~ Wally knows best where it should go! 

Would you believe there is a small sewing machine in this old backpack...some other wonders are packed in these boxes! Yep, Chubby Checker's Dance Party cassette is in there along with a box of other vintage cassettes. Maybe Kent has a way to play them (ideas for a marching band show or they may be worth a fortune on ebay!)

Kent, you are getting your fish box filled with treasures.

Job well done!

Tom, we'll be by to pick them up on our way east of the mountains soon; guess our rental car needs to be upgraded...