Sunday, July 11, 2010

CATCHING UP



It has been a very sad week here with the crash
of a Coast Guard helicopter and the deaths of
3 of the 4 man crew. The men were stationed
here but were in WA transporting a new
helicopter from the east coast back up here to
Alaska when they hit a power line and
crashed into the water.

We are a small community here and the
Coast Guard plays a huge part in this town.
It is very sad--between the 3 men they left
behind 8 kids. One of their wives is due
with a baby in 2 months and one of the
men was single father.




We had our 4th of July parade on the 3rd and it
rained the entire parade! Not just a little rain
either, it came in waves from the ocean and
drenched everyone to the bone.

But, the show must go on, right?

We decorated my husband's jeep as patriotic
as we could make it and my daughters
carried baskets filled with cookies and
handed them out along the route.
I walked carrying a cake and my husband
drove the jeep. Big Thank You to my
brother(Studio 7)for taking pictures of
us along the route.

I made 600 cookies and put 2 in a small bag
that I stapled closed with my business card:





My sister the Firewoman handing
out candy along the parade route:



My little niecie-poo riding in the firetruck
with Grampa:
The weather has been so bad here that the city ended
up canceling the fireworks show that was supposed
to be on the 3rd. They moved it to the 4th and it was
still ugly, so we just had our 4th of July fireworks
show this last Saturday night. Better late than never!

We had a warm sunny day just kind of show up in the
middle of the rain, so we took advantage and went
out in the boat for a bit.

Our younger daughter took the wheel--how's that
for a look of serious concentration?
My husband and older daughter just headed out to
check the skate they set yesterday. A skate is a line
with several hooks on it that you place on the
ocean bottom with weights on it and then attach
a buoy to mark the spot. Hopefully when you
pull it up about 8-12 hours later there are
halibut attached!

We were up at a little after 5:00 am and I was
in the kitchen making coffee when I heard my
husband yelling and my little dog was making
a screaming/growling noise like I have never
heard before. There was a bear looking at them
from a few feet away as my husband was baiting
the hooks. I have read about how strong their
sense of smell is, but that is amazing!


A acquaintance of ours passed away 2 weeks
ago and we went to the resulting estate sale.
He was a big military collector, having served
in Vietnam and WW2 as a Marine. His wife
gave my older daughter his original medic
bag since she is very interested in WW2
and she knew him as a friend. He was
very tall and our daughter is tall, so he
always teased her and called her shorty.

He had a lot of survival items that were
really interesting and one of the things I
had been wanting to get was hand grain
grinder. I have a nice electric one, but I
wanted one that could be used without
power and he had one:

His wife said they had use it a couple
of times and it had just been stored
for years.

I was also able to get a nice canner
that is still in the box unused. My husband
got some really neat ammo boxes, tents
and even a vintage helmet. The man also
had 23 cases of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat)
but those went to the first person that saw
them there.



Lots of cakes going out the door, here a couple of
the more interesting ones:

This cake was all hand painted, everything is edible.
I used the colors from my daughter's "Picasso"
birthday cake. Groovy, huh?


I had several funeral cakes in a row to do. I had
never done one before, then I do 3 in 3 days--weird.
Anyway, this lady loved butterflies, flowers and
hummingbords, so her daughter asked for 2 cakes
that had these elements for her memorial:





So this coming 2 weeks are very busy with
preparations for me selling at the first
Farmer's Market of the year.

Plus our church is hosting a team coming from the
Potomac district in Maryland and WA DC. They are
bringing 20 students and 9 adults and they will
be staying at our church. We will be feeding and
serving them 3 meals a day for 8 days, so lots
and lots of food prep coming up for that.

I am looking forward to seeing what their plans
are for the town. They will be doing outreaches
for kids here with games, Bible stories and
fun activities. One of the nights we are planning
on an Alaskan feast for them with Halibut,
Moose, Deer and Caribou on the menu.

I can't wait to see their reactions, as they are
all city kids...


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Loved this entry for all the Sitka-ness of it, besides your gorgeous cakes! Down to the wetness and the Extra-Tuffs. A friend has ordered a flower basket cake for in August, so now I know what she's talking about. Was that cake you carried too soggy to eat after the parade?