Ted Stevens Day

Today is Ted Stevens Day - and I confess I have no idea what Ted Stevens events in which I ought to participate.  Here's what State Rep. Steven Thompson (R), Fairbanks suggests as a cool way for our Fairbanks friends to honor our recently departed Uncle Ted:

A public celebration in honor of Ted Stevens Day will take place on Saturday, July 23^rd from 4pm-6pm at the Chief’s Court at Doyon, Ltd., located at 1 Doyon Court. The event is hosted by the Fairbanks Republican Women in conjunction with their Jazz on the River celebration. There will be live music, Ted Stevens’ memorabilia, and a short program to honor the late Senator. Additionally, commemorative wine glasses will be sold as mementos to this first annual celebration. Admission is $10 and includes food, drink, and entry into the Chief’s Court.

Doesn't sound quite up to Stevens' standards it seems to me. 

Here are my suggestions on the appropriate festivities:

• Find a lobbyist to treat you to the best meal in town;
• Take a  ride on a corporate jet to somewhere fun
• Sign a contract for a sweetheart deal on home renovations

Good ol' Uncle Ted...

In other news, it's been a very nice week.  Hiking, golf, just finished auntie's yard, and I would have finished mom's by now except that she sneakily went out and did it herself before I arrived.  She's nuts.

Yesterday I also met with a realtor...gonna do some serious house hunting.  We looked at one place on Mountainside Estates which has GREAT sun in both summer and winter; but I was not real thrilled with the house.  It needs some remodeling - particularly updating the bathrooms and the kitchen and the roof will need to be re-shingled shortly.  I would rather cut-off my right arm than get involved in serious remodeling.  More looking on Monday...

Tonight it's a BBQ featuring grillmaster Doug's famous ribs.  And fire pit.  I like fire pit.

Here are a couple of pics from auntie's yard.  It looks quite smashing if I do say so myself...

Auntie's yard is quite colourful

The colour scheme is accidental - but worked quite well

I like these lilies

And finally, a couple of pics courtesy of Mr. Swanson.  We had a flood on Mendenhall Lake and the Mendenhall River this week when an ice dam broke somewhere up on the Glacier.  And Juneau's newest waterfront mascot.

Mendenhall River above flood stage.  Photo courtesy of Eric Swanson

Hmmmmm.  Photo courtesy of Eric Swanson

Krabfest 2011

An exhausting weekend.  The local personal use King Crab opening began at noon on Friday and will expire at noon tomorrow.  Rickey, Swanson, Lindstrom & Associates were ready to go.

On Friday evening Dougie and Eric set the pot out by Outer Point.  Saturday afternoon we made the first pull - six keepers - a very satisfactory haul.  Sunday we scored three of the buggers and yesterday a new record of seven.  This brought our grand total to sixteen which was PRECISELY the number of crab our consortium was allowed after accounting for all the elderly persons for whom we were carrying proxy permits. 

So...am I exhausted from the strenuous physical activity of pulling crab pots?  Not exactly.  The exhausting part of this exercise is the cooking process - the part where we watch the crab boil away while we drink numerous beverages of our choice.  On my part this means red wine.  For Dougie and Eric this means various malt beverages. Crab cooking looks like this:

We cook crab using propane and genuine propane accessories

Yesterday, it was pouring down rain and the crab cooked in the driveway...while we  huddled in the garage.  Good ol' fashioned Southeast Alaska rainforest fun!

Captain Eric and First Mate Doug

 Yippee!

Crab cooking assembly line.  The bright orange guys are just out of the cooker...the brown guys waiting their turn....

On Saturday night mom prepared crab two ways - the big fat log-like legs were dipped in egg, rolled in Ritz Crackers and then quickly pan fried - while lump crab meat went into the salad bowl.  Mighty tasty!

 

Mom's Garden

I took a few pics a couple of weeks ago when mom's Iris were in full bloom and quite spectacular.  They are our native Iris setosa, aka Wild Flag Iris.  The native plant is beautiful and abundant in our meadows and blooms in early to mid-June.  IF you bring it into the garden, however, and make it happy with Miracle Grow potting soil with fertilizer you can get some amazing results as mom has demonstrated.  Mom refers to the potting soil as "miracle whip."

Seriously contented Wild Flag Iris in mom's garden

The Iris are now bloomed-out; but the yellow lilies are coming-on strong and her abundant red astilbe will soon be joining the party. 

Day lilies are soooooo cheerful!

In other news the weather has been quite delightful the past couple of days.  Yesterday I was all set to go for another hike when I spied my golf clubs through the open garage door.  Why not?  Went and hit some balls and played a round.  Good news:  my game has not deteriorated.  Bad news:  I still play like shit. 

Just read the latest news updates.  It seems that our deficit reduction talks are not going so hotsy-totsy.  On the other hand, it sounds like the President has just about had enough - particularly from that shit-weasel, Eric Cantor, who as near as I can tell is much more interested in deposing his own Speaker than staving off national disaster.  It might be a good thing for the President to lose his temper...

One of the credit rating agencies has put Uncle Sugar on "credit watch."

Meanwhile, I am certainly enjoying the News Corp. disaster in the U.K.  Sadly, they don't do the perp walk thing in Britain...  Rupert Murdoch is looking more and more like a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.

A Tale of Two Rodents

Finally!  Some sun...a beautiful day yesterday and more nice weather for the next couple of days.

Eric, Alison and I hiked out to Pt. Bridget yesterday.  The meadows were chock-a-block full of wild geraniums in bloom.  Quite spectacular.  There were lots of folks on the trail and everybody was in a good fair-weather mood.

On the drive out the road Alison and I came upon a marmot sitting in the middle of the highway.  I stopped the car and the roly poly little fur ball waddled off to the side of the road and sat there for us to admire him.  Really cute.  A little rabbit-like nose.  A bushy tail.  A sweet disposition. Unfortunately, my camera was in the back of the car.

A couple of hours later we came upon Mr. Marmot's cousin, Mr. Porcupine.  A pig-like snout.  Yellowed teeth.  Rapacious claws.  Oh yeah, and covered with nasty pointy quills.  Fortunately, Porky was up a tree and thus unable to wreak the customary havoc on Eric's hounds. 

Sadly, this was the only wildlife I saw.  Lots of bear scat; but no bears.  The birds were being coy.  Still, a beautiful day.

Oh...and before I forget...here is a link to the pictures I took on Jame's and Leah's whale watching cruise a couple of weeks ago. 

Well, time to get this show on the road.  I am contemplating a Perseverance Trail hike...

Back On-Line

Howdy gang!  Sorry about the down time; but my computer was inoperative for a week due to a malfunctioning modem.  All is now well.

Lots of stuff going on this past week.  The traditional 4th of July bacchanal, of course; but also company from America.  Leah arrived on the 30th for a wedding that was held in the wilds of Excursion Inlet.  I understand she also spent a fair amount of time in the wilds of South Franklin.  Don't think sleep was a big part of her holiday.  I managed a supper at Zephyr with her and Kira as well as a breakfast and a walk.  She looks great and is thriving.

My great nephew, Christopher, has also been up this past week for a visit.  He's the same age as Leah and Amanda and lives in Everett, Washington.  He's a real nice kid...he'll be starting school this next fall.

My Great Nephew, Christopher Nakamura

Last evening Christopher and I went on a whale watching cruise.  It was very fun.  We went up into Barlow Cove and caught some humpbacks doing the bubble-feeding gig.  They only did it once - and I got exactly one decent pic of the action.  But it still made the whole trip worthwhile!

As Leah would say:  "Hot whale-on-whale action!"

A humpback extends her flipper in friendship

After Barlow Cove we motored-up to the North Pass for more whale watching.  En route, we stopped at the buoy off of the entrance to the cove to check-out the lazy-ass sea lions taking a snooze.  I suspect that every whale boat does the same and they were remarkably unconcerned by the visit.

Workin' hard or hardly workin'?

Well, off to mom's for coffee.