STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE

Yay, lots of progress to report on the kitchen this

weekend! Saturday was very productive with

surprisingly few interruptions. It has been kind

of rainy and blowing outside so the time was

better spent indoors.

First the underlayment flooring was laid down. Alaska

doesn't require this flooring, but my husband put it in

anyway for warmth and stability. 

Texture was sprayed on next. It may look easy, but

this hopper is filled with wet mud and very heavy. 

You have to hold it up and spray carefully in a 

pattern to get the best looking coverage.

And finally primer. The texture dried pretty fast with

fans going and heaters on. My younger daughter cut in

with a brush and my husband followed with a roller.

Next job will 2 coats of pure white paint for a nice,

glossy finish that can be cleaned easily.

whoopsie...

In his spare time my husband fixed the ditch

that the gutters off the addition pour into. He

fixed this parking spot at the same time so I

can park the Jeep here without feeling like

I am rolling down the driveway.

I made this cake this weekend for our Pastor's 50th

birthday. His wife wanted something to do with his

age without it being a black or over the hill cake.

 

He is an avid hunter so we decided it should be a 

camo cake. He loved it! I made the head a 

separate cake of Tiramisu so they could lift it 

off and eat later. The kids at the party went 

crazy eating the Marshmallow fondant grass.

Only the wire glasses were not edible.

Big day Tuesday.. our older daughter comes 

home after her month long trip...

MOLASSES IN JANUARY

Arrgghh, that's how this kitchen project seems 

to be going to me! My husband is doing 

everything after working an already 

exhausting day for REAL customers, 

so I can hardly complain.

BUT WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG!

Actually, I always get annoyed when it comes

to this part because there is a thin film of white

dust on everything in the house, no matter how

hard we try to keep it contained.

The finish sanding was done yesterday, and the

plan was to spray texture tonight, but after doing

last minute concrete today I think my husband

should just hit the hay and plan for it tomorrow.

My job was to move the light as he needed it.

Wow--what would he do without me?

Look at this cool set up that went by early this morning.

If you click the picture it should get big so you can see

that there are 3 trackhoes and several vehicles on this

barge. It looks like they are heading out to do some big

work on one of the islands.

Oh yum, the Salmonberries are getting ripe! I think

I will try making jam this year.

It was 70 degrees at 7:00 pm, so my husband went out

for a drive to see if the bears were out. They were.

Saturday we went to a good friend's 70th birthday party.

It was a lot of fun and she is a BIG fan of purple, so the

entire party had a purple theme. The guests even had to

wear purple! They had a drawing for a gift basket filled

with (what else) purple goodies and my daughter won.

Here you can see the birthday girl is giving a big thumbs

up with purple fingernails!

Nothing is sacred in our house.

ITTY BITTY ABIGAIL

We have had many babies born in our congregation

this spring and most of them have arrived safe and

sound. We do have one little girl that needs prayers.

Abigail Faith is a preemie baby, weighing 2lbs, 7oz

at birth. The family is in Seattle and it looks like

she will be in the hospital for many weeks before 

she can come back home.

Besides the obvious health issues I am certain

this is creating a tremendous financial hardship

for them---being out of state and not working,

not to mention the thousands of $$$ in medical

bills that are piling up every hour. I don't know

their insurance status, but it costs approx.

$20,000 just to be Medivaced from here

to Seattle and a lot of insurance companies

will not cover that cost in full (gee--what

a shocker that one is)

Here is an excerpt sent out by our church:

C. M. was medivaced a few weeks ago in a health crisis and her little baby was taken by emergency c-section many weeks early to save mommie and baby. As Abigail appeared fairly developed for a premature baby, the drs. felt this procedure was safest. Therefore we have a little 2# baby girl that needs our prayers along with her mommy.

Prayers are very much appreciated for 

this neat family!

RANDOM SATURDAY STUFF

So this is what a week at camp will do to a

person. The ferry got here promptly at 5:30 am

and she came skipping in announcing that they

all stayed up again all night on the ferry. Yay!

20 minutes later:

I am so looking forward to opening that 

backpack filled with dirty camp clothes.

A special order cake for Father's Day. The

customer's husband loves Black Forest Cake, 

I made an authentic one with a German recipe.

 

I had to spend a bit of time finding Kirsch for 

this--it is the cherry flavored liquor that sets 

this cake apart. The Bing cherries are soaked in

it overnight and it is also used to soak the

cake layers and the frosting. The frosting is

real whipped cream and I used chocolate

from our own local chocolate factory. In

between the layers is a coffee/Kirsch

flavored buttercream with Bing

cherries layered on the frosting.

This baby was heavy--4 layers,  7 inches tall.

My little niecie-poo out fishing on the lake for the kid's

derby. Apparently she was quite excited about the whole

deal until she actually caught a fish. Grandpa helped her

bring it into the boat and the terrified screaming started.

Oh well, maybe they should just stick to floating around

on the lake without hauling anything slimy aboard.

Isn't this cool? (get it--ice/cool..) I am going to make one

for my daughter's graduation party. It is actually pretty

easy, it just involves filling a large bowl with water and

setting a smaller bowl inside. The decorations are

placed between the bowls, everything is put in the

freezer and voila! you have a gorgeous ice bowl

to hold anything from dips to punch. I read that

in a regular temp. room it will last approx 3

hours with minimal melting.

My sister and her husband are babysitting Canaries for

a friend that is out fishing for the year. They sing so

pretty and they just keep multiplying:

My best look, don't you think? Sanding the 2nd coat

of sheetrock in the kitchen. We are almost to texture!

WHAT ARE THEY--CRAZY?

I hate that feeling of being woke up from a sound sleep

by something unpleasant, don't you?

Last week at 5:00 am on the dot we heard a man yelling

at the top of his lungs outside of our house. Now with

warmer days we sleep with the patio door cracked open

and as a result we can hear things outside a lot better.

We sat up and blinked at each other, like what's

going on? I thought maybe the neighbors were

fighting, my husband thought the crew working

on the construction project down the road was

getting yelled at. But it's 5:00 am--they aren't

working yet.

I got up and looked out the front windows and 

this is what I saw:

These were young men in swim suits (no shirts, no shoes)

doing push ups in the 48 degree salt water at 5:05 am.

The guy yelling at them at the top of his lungs is the lone

individual to the right that I noticed was dressed in nice

warm clothing with boots on. He must have had really

big lungs.

Into the water they go...did I mention it's 48 degrees...

Out of the water they stagger, some of them running...

I didn't get a picture, but after this they let them put

their shoes back on (that's always a fantastic feeling 

with sandy, wet feet and no socks) and an orange 

reflective safety vest, then they started running in 

a line down the road with Major Pain driving 

the van after them.

I didn't see who they were, but since they all looked

young with short haircuts I am going to venture a

guess they were either part of the Alaska Trooper 

academy we have here or Coast Guard.

I didn't think the Coast Guard was that hard core, 

but maybe they are training to be rescue swimmers?

My sister sent me this from out by the Artesian Well.

Awww, he kinda looks like he wants us to come 

and play, doesn't he? 

Salmon cookies I made for the Music festival

Salmon Bake!

THE WEDDING GOWN THAT MADE HISTORY

My mom sent me this--fascinating!

     Lilly Friedman doesn't remember the last name of the woman who designed and sewed the wedding gown she wore when she walked down the aisle over 60 years ago.  But the grandmother of seven does recall that when she first told her fiancé Ludwig that she had always dreamed of being married in a white gown he realized he had his work cut out for him. 

 For the tall, lanky 21-year-old who had survived hunger, disease and torture this was a different kind of challenge.  How was he ever going to find such a dress in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Person's camp where they felt grateful for the clothes on their backs?
 
   Fate would intervene in the guise of a former German pilot who walked into the food distribution center where Ludwig worked, eager to make a trade for his worthless parachute.  In exchange for two pounds of coffee beans and a couple of packs of cigarettes Lilly would have her wedding gown. 
 
   For two weeks Miriam the seamstress worked under the curious eyes of her fellow DPs, carefully fashioning the six parachute panels into a simple, long sleeved gown with a rolled collar and a fitted waist that tied in the back with a bow. When the dress was completed she sewed the leftover material into a matching shirt for the groom.
 
   A white wedding gown may have seemed like a frivolous request in the surreal environment of the camps, but for Lilly the dress symbolized the innocent, normal life she and her family had once led before the world descended into madness.  Lilly and her siblings were raised in a Torah observant home in the small town of Zarica, Czechoslovakia where her father was a melamed, respected and well liked by the young yeshiva students he taught in nearby Irsheva. 

   He and his two sons were marked for extermination immediately upon arriving at Auschwitz .  For Lilly and her sisters it was only their first stop on their long journey of persecution, which included Plashof, Neustadt, Gross Rosen and finally Bergen Belsen . 

Lilly Friedman & parachute dress on display in the Bergen Belsen Museum

Four hundred people marched 15 miles in the snow to the town of Celle on January 27, 1946 to attend Lilly and Ludwig's wedding.  The town synagogue, damaged and desecrated, had been lovingly renovated by the DPs with the meager materials available to them.  When a Sefer Torah arrived from England they converted an old kitchen cabinet into a makeshift Aron Kodesh.  

  "My sisters and I lost everything - our parents, our two brothers, our homes. The most important thing was to build a new home."  Six months later, Lilly's sister Ilona wore the dress when she married Max Traeger.  After that came Cousin Rosie.  How many brides wore Lilly's dress? "I stopped counting after 17." With the camps experiencing the highest marriage rate in the world, Lilly's gown was in great demand.
 
    In 1948 when President Harry Truman finally permitted the 100,000 Jews who had been languishing in DP camps since the end of the war to emigrate, the gown accompanied Lilly across the ocean to America .  Unable to part with her dress, it lay at the bottom of her bedroom closet for the next 50 years, "not even good enough for a garage sale. I was happy when it found such a good home."  

  Home was the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington , D.C. When Lily's niece, a volunteer, told museum officials about her aunt's dress, they immediately recognized its historical significance and displayed the gown in a specially designed showcase, guaranteed to preserve it for 500 years.
 
   But Lilly Friedman's dress had one more journey to make. Bergen Belsen , the museum, opened its doors on October 28, 2007.  The German government invited Lilly and her sisters to be their guests for the grand opening. They initially declined, but finally traveled to Hanover the following year with their children, their grandchildren and extended families to view the extraordinary exhibit created for the wedding dress made from a parachute.  

  Lilly's family, who were all familiar with the stories about the wedding in Celle , were eager to visit the synagogue.  They found the building had been completely renovated and modernized.  But when they pulled aside the handsome curtain they were astounded to find that the Aron Kodesh, made from a kitchen cabinet, had remained untouched as a testament to the profound faith of the survivors.  As Lilly stood on the bimah once again she beckoned to her granddaughter, Jackie, to stand beside her where she was once a kallah.  "It was an emotional trip.  We cried a lot." 

  Two weeks later, the woman who had once stood trembling before the selective eyes of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele returned home and witnessed the marriage of her granddaughter. 
                                                                                                                  
  The three Lax sisters - Lilly, Ilona and Eva, who together survived Auschwitz, a forced labor camp, a death march and Bergen Belsen - have remained close and today live within walking distance of each other in Brooklyn.  As mere teenagers, they managed to outwit and outlive a monstrous killing machine, then went on to marry, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and were ultimately honored by the country that had earmarked them for extinction. 

  As young brides, they had stood underneath the chuppah and recited the blessings that their ancestors had been saying for thousands of years.  In doing so, they chose to honor the legacy of those who had perished by choosing life.

Hinda  

EMPTY NESTERS FOR A WEEK

The house feels so empty! Our older daughter 

is in WA state for a month and our younger

daughter left this morning for a week in 

Juneau at our church's camp. She was excited, 

nervous and scared all at the same time. The 

youth group caught the big ferry and will be 

met by another group up in Juneau, then 

drive to the camp.

They will be spending tonight on the ferry,

arrive in Juneau at 6:30 am and the week is

packed with events and fun. Everything from

paint ball to jet skis will be available. For

a kid that doesn't like to miss her sleep, she

is going to be one tired puppy when she gets

back here at 5:30 am next Saturday!

Here they are at the ferry terminal getting instructions

from Pastor Tim (grey shirt, camo shorts). Poor guy--

I counted 15 boys and 4 girls...makes me tired thinking

about how long that night will be on the ferry tonight

for him and he has a newborn at home that hasn't

been sleeping very well lately.

This is kind of a cool boat that went by this morning.

Doesn't everybody have their own helicopter that they

take everywhere with them?

Kitchen progress...well, there hasn't been a whole lot

due to the amount of customer work that needs to be

done. Everything is now sheetrocked and mudded,

waiting for a second coat of mud.

Mudding the master bedroom and talking to Mom

in Poland at the same time. She is a gardener and

quite upset that their weather has fallen apart with

drenching rain and storms.

I made a big batch of cookies for the local librarians and

for the vet that took care of my daughter's rabbit when

she got sick last week. What better way to say thanks

than an overdose of sugar right?

MISSING IN ACTION

Hey, guess what? I'm still here! I am

sorry for the long silence, but I had a

bit of an episode with major back 

spasms that really did get the best 

of me there for awhile. You know,

where you have those awful thoughts

of Am I going to live through this?

Well, live through it I did and I am

back to baking and caking. I just

finished catering a picnic dinner for 

50 people this weekend and that 

made me really, really tired  LOL

My family has a bunch of spring babies

and between the months of March and

June we have 10 birthdays--and that's

not counting Mother's Day!

That is a lot of parties and cakes, and

then to top it off my older daughter

graduated from high school!!! She

turned 18 in May and graduated

the same month. We will have her

graduation party in July because

she went on a month long trip to

WA state right after graduation.

She took this lovely portrait herself--isn't 

it gorgeous? One of her goals is to be a 

photographer. A friend told me the other 

day, I think she is already!

She also tested for her high Blue belt in Tae Kwon Do and

passed. Next is Red and then on to Black. She graduated

with a 3.71 GPA and will come back home to attend the

local university until she enters the Coast Guard.

My younger daughter finished 6th grade with very high

grades the entire year, mostly A's. Here she is on the

left with her class singing at their year-end concert.

The other girl to the right is her younger cousin.

This was am amazing performance, these kids 

were really, really good!

I had to throw a little bit of cuteness in

here. My little niecie-poo out at the island

cabin just hanging around  :-)

The bears are back out by the estuary. If you look at the

top of the picture in the middle of the boardwalk you

can see momma bear and she had a yearling cub with

her by the tree.

We ran into a tourist lady with 2 children that were in

the area camping and wanted to walk on the boardwalk.

The Forest Service was out there that day putting the

tape back up across the boardwalk so people would

stay away. This lady was highly perturbed that she

couldn't walk along the boardwalk with her 2 kids

and she let everybody know it.

Hmmm, maybe they should have just let her go...

It's still a free country and they are just fuzzy old 

Grizzly Bears, right?

I have been busy caking and baking. Here is a baby shower

cake I made--this was really fun! Everything on the cake

is edible, chocolate cake with marionberry filling.

Here is the cake I made for my daughter's 18th birthday,

complete with hand made sugar flowers that were dusted

lavandar. This isn't the cake I had planned on doing, but

this was right in the middle of the back spasms episode,

so I feel fortunate that I was even able to finish it!

Both tiers were chocolate, the top tier had peanut

butter filling, the bottom was Oreo cookie filling.

A cake I made for my sister in law's birthday. She was at

my house and mentioned how cute this purse was, so

that's where I got the idea for her cake. Carrot cake with

whipped cream cheese frosting and white chocolate

flowers.

Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery and boats galore!