Almost.... but not quite

Winter has been knocking at our door here in SW Alaska. Not too loud yet, but she's getting more and more persistent.

We've had a few really cold nights and woken up to some serious frost (enough so that I had to scrape off the car, gasp!). Last night it got down to 21 degrees, and it has warmed up to about 36.

It even tried to snow for a few days. My crazy kids sure had fun making prints in the "snow".... I think they might be ready for winter. At least someone in our house is!

Low Bush Cranberries

We went and found some low bush cranberries on the tundra a few days ago, right before the first snow storm of the year hit Dillingham.

Kiley kicked up a fuss about wearing warm clothes, and I had to practically hold Sis down to even get clothes on her- so it was like herding cats to get both of the girls dressed appropriately, the dogs in the truck and down the road on time.

It was worth the hassle, it was a day you really look forward to out on the tundra- sunshine, wind and no bugs! We were pleasantly surprised with a nice afternoon looking for berries.

We met my friend Nicole and her two boys Logan and Lane and we must have picked for over an hour-we definitely could have picked for a lot longer than that!
I've always been told that low bush cranberries are at their best after the first frost, and we had definitely had at least one that left ice in our puddles. So I figured the berries were at their best- and I must say they were juicy and so gorgeous! What pretty berries, whish is a little weird to say unless you really like them, but these berries were such a very pretty dark red that I couldn't pick enough.

I ended up picking about a quart, not a lot, but enough for me to make a batch of muffins that the kids loved. Kiley helped some and Kalin helped too... but she was more intererested in finding blueberries and then "just trying" the berries in my bucket. Nicole got the rest of what we picked for a special liqueur she was planning on making... maybe she'll share.

Holy Po-na-noes!

I mean potatoes, but you know what I mean.

We picked our potatoes last week, right before our garden was covered in snow. It was a family affair- at least for a little while. Although it was about 11:00 in the morning there was no sun on the garden yet and it was freez-ing! Kiley lasted for about 10 minutes until she had to go and warm up, Kalin was a trooper and picked til the end. She was excited as I was to "dig for treasure" aka the potatoes.

We planted 10 lbs of red seed potatoes and got 25 lbs. I was impressed at the average size of these guys!
We planted 10 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes and picked 50 lbs out of our garden. Their average size was what I would call spectacular- if you can really call the size of a potato "spectacular." The majority of what we dug up was as big as, if not bigger, than what we would buy here in town.

It was a great harvest. We are excited to have our own home grown potatoes for the winter!

How Time Flies...

My Birthday Princess at One, I didn't think she could possibly get any cuter...



Then at two (she was holding on to that baby for dear life, so her BFF wouldn't take it from her)


Wow, three (we get the best pictures when she is tired!)


Four, and she seemed so grown-up, but she was a big sister by this point


*gasp* Then she was FIVE, the very anticipated, FIVE. Wasn't she a cute kitty?

Then, as hard as it is to believe, my baby is now SIX. I was wrong about her getting cuter, she definitely has, especially now that she is losing teeth!

Now she's in Kindergarten, at the big school. She also has opinions on her favorite music, clothes, hair... Well stronger opinions anyway (she's not 16, but can act like it), her voice has gotten a lot louder in the last year or so.

She also has friends, my little socialite, and apparently can throw a mean birthday party.


Happy 6th Birthday Kiley Jeanette, you little nut.

Note: Don't Question Mom's Flower Knowledge

I have been attending a "Gardening Symposium" class for the past few days and have learned a thing or two about planing in this here little town. Just a thing, or two, or notebook full.....

So a few weeks ago I posted about some flowers that I was very proud of in my yard that I grew from seed. I named them: Pansy, Morning Glory.... remember this?


My Mom saw the pictures and said, "I saw the pictures of your flowers and they are so pretty!"

I of course said thank you and was stoked that they turned out so well.

She then said, "Um, are you sure the Morning Glory is not a Nasturtium? It kind of looks like a Nasturtium to me....."

Cough, cough "Of course I am Mom! I labeled the pot with Duck Tape 'MORNING GLORY. It's got to be a Morning Glory!'"

I should have known better than to question my mother's flower knowledge. My mother who has been gardening much, much longer than me. I shouldn't, I won't, I can't ever again.

A few weeks ago I said that this was a Morning Glory, when in fact it is a Nasturtium. I learned that today in my Gardening class. I should have just learned that from my Mom.... I stand corrected, thank you Mom.

Something is different....

Something has changed.

Seemingly grown over night....

Our clubhouse changed from a boy to a man.

He's got horns now.

Funny thing is I always thought "he" was a "she".... but clubhouses are funny like that, it's hard to tell gender.

Jon's happy to have the extra testosterone around the house.

Moose!

He told me I couldn't post this on Facebook, but he didn't say anything about posting it on the blog. Something about the moose being too small or something.

He goes, he hunts, he kills and then brings home the beef, um moose. Max and Jon went on a "tide" hunt- meaning they took off when the tide was high and were planning on being that night. He saw a bull at Black Point, shot it and was home within four hours! We are still working on cutting it up and getting it in the freezer. Last night we ground about 50 lbs of burger, tonight we'll do a few more pounds and be done.

Max got a moose the opening day of the season and that moose is processed and in the freezer, we even have the sausage we had made in Anchorage home and packaged!

Yum...

I used Cilantro that I grew in our green house to make some homemade Salsa...it lasted about a day. Can you smell it? Yum!

Clouse Clubhouse

You've just been invited to the sickest club in town....
That's right the Clouse Clubhouse.
Yes, we did paint Oscar and Kami's paws and press them onto the walls of the clubhouse. That's how we roll, deal with it. It is not animal cruelty, they liked it. It's family inclusion at its best.

Eat your heart out Eric Carle

Rainbows, caterpillars, polka dots and lime green paint. Jealous? You better be. All the kids in the neighborhood want one just like it. We might have to patent this sucker.

That rainbow is a Jon Clouse original baby.

It took all summer to get a weekend as perfect as this one (blue skies and 60 degree temps- Friday, Saturday AND Sunday).
I hope you can come and see the clubhouse in person one day. It is truly magnifique, Sis had the red and yellow hair to prove it.
Just check out that artwork!

Morning Glories, Pansies... and more!

That gorgeous flower is a Morning Glory, and I grew it from a little tiny seed. Note to self- try to sow these a little earlier in 2011 (Maybe in February?). It is really hard to wait these beautiful blooms until September!

This little beauty is a Pansy, and I grew it from a teeny tiny seed (have you ever seen a pansy seed? They are seriously minuscule, daunting even...). I was smart this year and sowed all my seeds directly into the pot I was going to put on my deck this summer. My Dad told me that Pansies are "very hard to grow", so I took that as a personal challenge.
These beauties are from my mom. She gave me a "roll" of seeds that I basically laid out in the back of our house, watered and watched grow. Another note to self; get these suckers out and watered early (MAY)! Waiting until September for them to bloom is too long to wait! Since this picture has been taken there are some beautiful blue and pink flowers that have bloomed. I'll have to see if I can snap a few pictures when the sun is shining on them. They sure are pretty.

Early fall beauties

I planted these beauties from seed, and I am so proud, happy, satisfied. Finally after years of trying I got these gorgeous wild flowers to bloom for me, in my yard, where I want them to be! They are so pretty and surround our driveway with pink, blue, white, orange and yellow. I make sure to point them out to anyone who comes into our yard, not boasting just being a little pointed...

Kiley's First Day of Kindergarten

We made it, both of us didn't cry. For one of us it was a little harder than for the other, ahem the taller one in particular. I was thankful Kiley wasn't the child that went limp like a noodle and hid under the tables in the classroom, although that would have made for a good story in a few years. But it would have been nice to have a little emotion that mom was leaving, well I did get about three hugs.

Kiley was so excited she could barely stand it. Excited about her classroom, her friends, her lunch, her clothes, riding the bus... the list just goes on and on.

I asked her what the best part of her day was, and was surprised when she said, "Exercising." Was it naive of me to think it might have been a story or books? Maybe tomorrow....

Holy Potatoes

I've cheated a little this year. I couldn't wait until after the first frost to dig up our potatoes, I've been too curious to see how those suckers are growing down under. I first dug up a few that I just threw in the ground, under my bedroom window.... but when that was disappointing (just one tiny potato per plant) I had to go and see what was in the garden.

Graelin was visiting and he told me, "No I've never picked 'ponanoes' before", so of course Kiley, Grae and Kalin had to help dig up the 'ponanoes' in the garden. The pictures say it all! The last plant the kids dug up held the biggest potato we've ever grown! I was so impressed I had to show my neighbor, and since then I've shown just about everyone who I thought would be even remotely interested in my potato growing skills.

I wish all the potatoes were as big as the big dog, but you know I am just not going to complain. I have bragging rights to at least one monster potato from my garden and pictures to prove it!

We also had to pick some carrots, and although they aren't in any way big I am impressed. We've never even been able to grow any carrots that were big enough to eat, and these were just the right munching size. Yummy!

Yes, you may call me Farmer Clouse.

State Fair 2010

The family at the wedding, we are just missing Jon!

Kiley's favorite ride- the rollercoaster!

Sis was asleep before we left the parking lot!

We had a great time at the state fair this year. Kiley's second trip to the fair, Kalin's too. We made a trip into Anchorage just the girls and I to meet up with my parents and to see the rest of the family. What a whirlwind of a trip!

Swimming, "Old MacDonald's", Chuck E. Cheese, a wedding, a birthday party, the state fair.... and for the first time school clothes shopping! Kiley had to tell Kalin about all the fun things to do in Anchorage over and over again.... she even had a top "five" list of things she had to do. We got to do almost everything, except watch a movie. We'll do that next time. The girls really did well with all the hubbub and hectic schedule, there were of course "moments" but I like to think of the good times more than the bad... no matter how memorable they may be.

To top it all off Pen Air decided to give us an extra present by delaying our trip home for over three hours! Yup, we didn't leave Anchorage until about 8:45 so we didn't get home until after 10:00 p.m. This wouldn't have been a big deal if Kiley didn't have her Kindergarten assessment the next day!

This is why we live here

"Breathtaking"
"Gorgeous"
"Amazing"

I still think these thoughts every time we get to go to the Lake; sunny, cloudy, wet, dry, cold... or very cold. Aleknagik Lake must be one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been to. People pay thousands of dollars to come to this part of Alaska and our family gets to live here. We are so lucky!

After what must be the rainiest, wettest, coldest summer on record we finally got a beautiful day with barely a cloud in the sky. We loaded up the girls, the dogs and some grub and away we went.

We took advantage of just about every minute- we kept the girls up until 11- but it was worth it!

Onions

Sis and I went and picked some onions from the garden the other day.

"Onions mom? This one? No? This one? "

You can imagine her going from a potato plant to the lettuce to the carrots... until she finally got the right one. Then she yanked it up as fast as she could.The bulb onions we planted this year are far bigger than any onion we have ever gotten in the past. We are pretty excited to actually have some onions growing!

We have been harvesting quite the Alaska "cold weather" crop in the last few weeks. We've been harvesting broccoli, made some salad with our home grown lettuce and even dug up some potatoes for a moose stew tonight. Yum! This is why we garden. We reap what we sow.

GB's Visit

Jon's mom, aka "GB" (short for GrandBonnie) came for a visit August 1st and was supposed to leave August 20th.... but we talked her into staying another week. August seems to be one of the busiest months for us. We both head back to work and have a very busy two weeks of inservice and all the "extra" duties that inservice entails. Lots of looonnnggg days and weekend work. Having GB here helping us with the two kiddos and all the ins and outs of managing our household has been nothing short of marvelous.

Having Bonnie here has been absolutely wonderful, and very, very helpful for us during this busy month.

Everyone knows that GB loves a good project, multiple projects. She told Jon she would come to Alaska only if he promised that he would have enough logs cut for her to split wood for an hour a day. She wasn't kidding.
So far she has split about 6 chords of wood. She has filled our wood shed to its maximum capacity, and its never been to maximum capacity.
On top of spllitting wood every night GB cooks, cleans and also does laundry. No you can not have her come to your house. Yes Ben she has made us potato burritos and tortilla soup, ha ha! Both were amazingly delicious and we ate every morsel/drop.

Sorry Papa Paul, we are keeping her indefinitely. Our visit can not have gone better....