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.

Read about it here

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...