Change of Seasons?

The temperatures soared on Thursday to a balmy 40 degrees. We had melting everywhere, which only made the roads and parking lots extra slippery. Friday and today it was back in the mid-20's which is nothing to sneeze at, and we've been enjoying endless sunshine. Despite the warmer temperatures we have continued to have frozen well pump issues. I have no idea what is going on, but I am starting to think that maybe there's a conspiracy against me here. Do you suppose it's the squirrel? I mean, it has to be something, and seeing that I don't know many people, my only assumption is that the squirrel has it in for me! Really. lol.

Last night we laid low, renting a couple of movies, and I made homemade pizza. We stopped by Mary Lou's to help her with a vehicle issue, and another of Brent's coworkers brought over his 9 week old black lab puppy. Now there's a whole new definition to baby fever! However, I have kept my wits about me, and I do not need two dogs in our little house. We're happy with Ches, but I wouldn't mind babysitting every now and again!

Today we headed to Fairbanks. We took Mary Lou with us, which was great. She needed some things and just doesn't like to make the drive herself. Unfortunately I just didn't get much of my own shopping done, but that's fine. I can order some things, or wait until the next trip. I'm sure we'll go soon. As a thank you she took us out for lunch, and it was nice to relax and just talk. She's led a very interesting life.

I'm still waiting to hear on the job applied for. At this point I figure no news is good news, so I wait. Tomorrow I think the plan is just to lay low and relax all day long. We haven't done that in a while, so I think I'll put on a roast and just veg. We'll likely head to the woods, or out for a drive and a walk. If we find anything exciting to snap pictures of, we'll do that along the way too.

I also want to send my thoughts, prayers, and love to my family in Minnesota. My great uncle passed away on Thursday evening. He will be missed by all that knew him, as he was certainly a one-of-a-kind man. We both have so many fond memories of our time spent with Uncle Zefere. We wish we could be there to remember him with you.

Have a happy day!

Long Weekend

Hello, Hello! The photo above is a photo of the Alaska Range. We took a drive on Friday afternoon as Brent is off early on Fridays. Since it had been a fairly long week for both of us we took a little drive to just get me out of the house. Phew. The Alaska Range was beautiful both Friday and Saturday due to clear skies.

Since I was driving on Friday Brent was in charge of the camera. We "caught" this large moose on film, but as you can see the image is a little blurry. I guess the moose was a little too quick for us!

This, my friends, is Donnelly Dome. It lies about 23 miles from Delta Junction, and Brent was telling me how pretty it was so we had to drive out past Ft. Greely to see it. He was right. It's pretty majestic, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in the summer. As you can tell we had a nice time taking in the scenery.

Saturday a.m. we had planned a huge trip to Fairbanks. I was super excited to FINALLY get out of this house for more than an hour or two. Brent was also planning to take me out to a nice seafood dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. Yeah, that didn't happen.

We got up uber early. 5:15 a.m. to get on the road and get our shop on. Brent went out to start the vehicle and look everything over only to find that our tensioner bearing was out. Needless to say, no going anywhere. Our serpentine belt was smoking. That is not a good thing.

I dare say that this was the first time I had my "we'll never live rural again" pity party. It was challenging. We called two auto parts stores here in town. Neither had the part in stock. Of course. Then we called an auto rental place in town to rent a vehicle to drive to Fairbanks to pick up the part, and of course, nothing was available. So, here we sat. For the foreseeable future.

Brent called Napa back to order the part as they could have it here sooner. This time he spoke with the owner/manager who was a super nice guy that told him he would look for a bearing for him if he couldn't find the part in stock. We were told to call back later. Brent came in to look up exactly how to fix the issue. He downloaded a video and immediately crashed our computer. Grrr. It was not looking up to be a good day.

It turned out the My Hero down at Napa was able to get the part in on the truck that day, and despite the fact that the store closes at 3 p.m. on Saturday, he stuck around until after 4 p.m. so that we could get the part. So, we begged a ride off the neighbors next door, and got the part. Brent fixed the car in about 10 minutes and saved the day!!! Yay!

Valentine's Day was salvaged. Phew! We drove into town to the IGA picked up some salmon, steak and fixings and I came home and fixed us a dinner to not be forgotten. We added in some scallops and brownies, a little wine, and the day turned out pretty well, considering what it could have been.

Sunday a.m. went got up a bit later as I didn't sleep much. 3 hours total. We headed for Fairbanks, and straight to Lowe's. We hit up Walmart, Fred Meyer, Mattress Ranch, and Safeway as well. It was a very, very expensive weekend, but well worth the trip.

You would have loved the salesman at the Mattress Ranch. Uff da. You drive up to a warehouse painted to resemble a barn with animals painted all over it. It's really quite difficult to miss. As I walk in Tony Little's offspring is ready and waiting to push anything and everything down my throat. While I would have loved the $2500 bed he was trying really hard to sell me, I settled for the cheaper version closer to the front of the store. The sale didn't stop even as he was ringing me up, mattress pads, pillows, this and that. No thanks. NO THANKS.

We rushed home and the first thing I did was vacuum. Vacuum, and vacuum and vacuum some more. Awwww. You take so many little things for granted when you start over at zero. So Sunday and Monday we just worked around the house, Brent had Monday off for President's Day, and plugged away.

Today (Tuesday) I worked for hours with Dell trying to get this computer fixed. I seriously was contemplating just buying a new one, but we did get it fixed and it's working yet again. Thank goodness. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to play, update the blog, as I have been busy putting away all my stuff.

Ches and I had a little visitor today. We didn't have any big visitors like my friend over at Moose Nugget. But we had a little squirrel, a rather percocious fellow, who was causing quite a ruckus running up and down the porch, the supports, and I suspect he was trying to gnaw through the mesh and access my eaves. I did get a couple of pictures of him and our trip on Sunday but I can't find my USB cable for that camera, so that's my goal for tomorrow.

Have a happy day!

Perfect Sunday Evening & Aurora Borealis

Brent and I decided to walk back along the shelter belt yesterday afternoon. In the midst of watching Ches bob and weave amongst the mini evergreens and the crispy snow, Brent managed to catch this beautiful sunset through the trees.

This is the cleared path where we were walking. The owners cleared this area for a new field and kept the logs for building there new home. It's beautiful to just have peace and quiet and see all the new things there are to see.

The cows were very, very interested in Ches. They followed us all along the fence line. At times they'd kick up their heels to catch her interest. She didn't really care that they were there. But they're cute and we enjoy them.

This photo captures the mountain view from the field' It's amazing how bright and crisp yesterday was. Some days you can barely see the mountain from our front porch.

In other exciting news we had our first Northern Lights experience this morning. It started about 1 a.m. as I was laying restless and sleepless on the couch. It ranged between grays and whites, but it was magnificent. I could watch the lights wax and wane behind a large cloud bank. At 4:45 when Brent got up to go to work, we watched them for a bit from the front porch, and by this point it was spread out across the entire sky. A beautiful sight. I cannot wait for more sightings.

Ches and I had a visitor today. Ches was going a little crazy banana on the couch, so I walked to the living room to see what was up. As I was chatting away with Kristie I noticed a table draped down in my window. A squirrel had decided to come and take a look around to see what he could scavenge up. I shooed him and sent him on his way.

All in all, a perfect Sunday afternoon, and a happy Monday. What a way to start the week!

Stay Warm!