sunset and sunset

These three pictures are from the frount door of the store in barrow looking out to the Chuckhi sea. The first is the sunset and sunrise after 66 days of 24 houres of sunshine. the sunset last about 15 min. then sunrise. the middle one is on July 02 the last is on aug.15 .

More Barrow pictures

The village people use the seal skins that they have taken off their traditional skin boat for whaling, to make a blanket to use at their summer carnival, as a blanket toss. It's like their summer entertainment.

Tom's Barrow, Alaska Pictures

The first picture is 2 D9 Cats pulling a 58ft. whale weighting 48 tons onto the beach in Barrow, AK.

The second picture shows the whale on it's side and some of the native people around it.

The 3rd picture shows the baleen from inside the whales mouth. This is what they use to catch the creel and plantain and microscopic organism that they eat.

The whole town of Barrow comes out to help butcher the whale. Within 24 hrs. they have used every part of the whale and nothing is left on the beach. This is so the polar bears do not come into town. I worked in Barrow for about one year ,Spenard Builders has a store right on the Chukchi sea side of the Arctic ocean

Menopause the Musical

I went to Menopause the Musical today with a friend. It was very cute! There were lots of songs to the tunes of mostly older songs, from like the Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, Tina Turner and others, only they changed the words to fit this musical. It is a unique celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived The Change. It has grown into a grassroots movement that deals with life after age 40 with all of the challenges that result in the mental, physical, and spiritual freedom of more than 38 million baby boomer females. The show's intended message is that menopause is a passage, but it should no longer be The Silent Passage. It is a stage in every woman's life that is perfectly normal and at times quite laughable.
It was a fun time and very intertaining.

Well I went out side to take pictures of our tulips and we couldn't hardly see them, so I'll send some later when we can at least see them. We are usually about 5-6 weeks behind the lower 48 with our seasonal changes. Soooo...about this time next month we should have blooming tulips!!

I took a couple pictures of our walk this morning with Angel. She loves to get out and run for a little bit, then I put her on the leash and we walk about 20 minutes more. It's good to get out and get fresh air. This is right behind our house. We live next to a "Green Belt" --lot of trees and there are usually trails that we can walk on, even in the snow like this.

Spring Cleaning

I was watching a show this week, and they were talking about saving and hording things, and that got me thinking. So, I just started with our closet in our room and it was absolutely amazing how much "junk" was in there that we haven't used in a long time. We had 3 bags to donate of cloths & shoes we "can't" or don't wear any more. I didn't realize how much we had saved for those "some day we might use it" items. I hope I can do the rest of the closets up stairs tomorrow.

Man's Best Friend

Last weekend, my good friend, Karleen, came in town, and stayed with us. While we were watching, Lela, her dog, I hand fed both dogs so they wouldn't be jealous. Pretty funny!! Her dog had to get her yearly check up. Everything is fine with her!

We also went furniture shopping for my friends home and we actually found things she liked. I think we went to almost every furniture store there was in Anchorage. By the end of the day we were exhausted, BUT it was a fun day together!!

We actually got a LOT accomplished. It's always fun to have them come and stay with us.

6:30 am

Hi ,This is your uncle Tom 's first try at this so here goes. This morning during my quit time with a good cup of coffee and Angel at my feet ,I though of how nice it was to see all of you at the reunion. Mom would keep use informed on all of changes that has happened to all of you ,yet not being there to have the inter action was not easy. Through the grace of God and his unconditional love , He has keep use to gather no matter how far we are apart. I real like the blogs !

Home Sweet Home

This is our home in Anchorage that we have been at for the past 18 years now. My goodness how time flies. This was taken Feb. 2008 right after a fresh snow and the sun was shinning and everything was so BEAUTIFUL!!

It does not look like this now though, we are in the middle of "break up". It warms up to the mid 30's during the day, then at night it freezes again. Sooooo it takes a LONG TIME for the snow to finally go away.

We do have some rhubarb starting to peek through at the side of the house, even though the snow has not all melted yet. That always gives me hope that the REAL SPRING is right around the corner.

My walking buddy

This is my walking buddy, Angel. She loves to get out and walk, even on the ice, or when it's wet and she gets all dirty. I decided today, I would rather have her a little dirty from our walks, and happy, :o) than not take her out and have her and me not as happy. It's amazing what a little sunshine and exercise does for my spirit. It really does help for me to get out even if it's for 10 or 15 minutes. Angel, is a Britany Spaniel.
I had some good things I wanted to share earlier this weekend, but I was not able to get onto my blog. Now that I'm able to get on again, I don't have the time, so I'll share more another day.

Good Friends

This picture was taken down town Anchorage, AK. right before Christmas 2007. Our good friends, Mike & Karleen, from King Salmon, AK. were in town and wanted to go sleigh riding and sing carols, so that's what we did. We had LOTS OF FUN!

They surprised us yesterday and took us out to dinner for our anniversary. We couldn't resist a nice meal with GREAT friends .

Mike & Tom use to work together when we first moved up here, and Karleen and have been good friends ever since. Pattie is also one of our friends that went with us on the ride. Oh what fun we had when we went riding on the sleigh!! (sing that to the tune of Gingle Bells :)

Does Chocolate do this to you?

Here it is about 2:30AM and I'm not able to sleep, it couldn't have ANYTHING to do with the GREAT piece of CHOCOLATE CAKE I had for dinner last night. (ha ha) I thought I had it early enough it wouldn't bother me, but guess what....... here I am, awake again.
I'm not sure where to start with all this. So I' guess I will just start somewhere and see where it goes.
We went to a performance by the Anchorage Chorus with 1960's music tonight. They played lots of good "oldies" and odly enough I knew most of the songs. Tom & I both enjoyed it. That doesn't mean I'm "old" or anything though. I can remember thinking about being 50 years old, and it seemed sooooo old!!! Now that I'm past that, it's not as bad as I thought!! It is what you make it to be. Actually, for the most part, things have gotten better and better. Sooo, all you young people out there, have hope that life does go on after your past 29 and holding!! :o)

One of the things that inspired me to start sharing more was a card I just received this week from my boss, thanking me for being willing and able to "hold down the fort" for them while they were gone to Hawaii and Nevada during the month of Feb. On the back of the card was a note that Alma Barkman wrote about cabin fever. One of the things she suggests to help with "cabin fever" or the winter blues or whatever you want to call it is to---
1-communicate more with family and friends. Invite your neighbor in for a cup of coffee, they may be just a lonely as you are. Or ... bake something and take it to a neighbor or friend.
Alma B. had a canary named Captain, that loved to sing when people came to visit them. His master thinks that "cheering people up seems to be his mission in life." That just hit me, that I need to do more of that. So, if you have the "winter blues", just remember that you are NOT alone and someone out there loves you and cares for you!! As the aroma of the freshly baked goodies fill your home, it will help you forget about yourself and forget all about the blues. In fact you will probably find yourself singing or whistling while you work.
Well, that's all my wonderful wisdom for tonight (or morning) :o) Take care and Make it a GREAT DAY!! I love you all!!

Anniversary Night Out-

Yes Tom & I had a real date to celebrate 34 years of marriage!! We ordered dinner in -from a resturant that delivers-- and then went to the show.

Wow--just think , 34 years ago we were in Grand Junction, Colorado having dinner with all the wedding party and anxiously waiting for tomorrow to come so we could get married. Wow--it seems so long ago and yet time has gone by so fast.

A lot has happened these last part of my life. Moving from Grand Junction Colorado to Albuquerque, and living there for about 10 years and all the wonderful time we had with family and being involved in the church. Then moving to Anchorage, Ak. (after 5 years of Tom trying to convince me it would be ok). We had 2 different sets of friends that were up here in AK. also, so that help me decide we would NOT be totally alone. It has not been that bad, except March and April are my hardest months.

While we were in Albuquerque, and I was much younger, I played softball in March, with the ladies from the church. It was a Great time. I even got MVP one year. :o)

Well, Laurie & Lindy--here you go. Thanks for your hints. You can use whatever you wish. I'll try to send more pictures as I learn to do that also. Tom took pictures tonight, so I'll try to send them.