Trip to Skagway

Yesterday was beautiful. Both Windy Arm of Tagish Lake and Tutshi Lake were calm! At least on the way over they were. Took a photo of the tourists taking photos of the landscape up at the top of the pass. This bear was trying to get away from Cassie the dog. She must have been a Karelian bear dog in another life. She hates them and will try to jump out windows to make them move.
All my pots are now in Skagway getting sold, I hope!

Pit Fired Pots

Finished my first order of Pit pots for Skagway. Got the one out for Whitehorse a couple of weeks ago, this one kind of dragged on. Got some really nice ones. Now they are all priced and packed for a little trip tomorrow. This week sees the tourist season in full swing. Another exciting summer for us. Our quiet and sleepy little (mini) town of Carcross wakes up at least for a couple of hours in the afternoon! When you add a thousand people to a population of 250 it is rather noticeable! Now I have to get my wood kiln loaded and fired before fire season gets happening. Then it is back to spinning up dog fur to finish the orders I already have. Not to mention the GARDEN.
Just an update photo of the greenhouse. It is so full you can hardly walk in there, let alone water it. I have the other greenhouse full of the plants that don't mind it cold at night. Another day or two and I can transfer Tomatoes and the other heat-lovers into it. Then I'll have two over full greenhouses. Leaves are at the squirrel ear size so planting outside seeds can happen any time I have the time...when is that?? Also getting to the end of the fly orders, finally! Only about 100 to go. When you start a 5,000 fly order you count the ones you've finished, not how many to still make (otherwise you'd just be depressed). These last ones are the most difficult to do. Not to make, easy patterns, it is just that the weather is so wonderful I don't want to be inside anymore.
This moose I saw on my way home from school Thursday night about 8:30 pm. His mom has given him the boot and he isn't sure about what to do. He should have run off when I stopped if he wants to stay alive! The cows will be having their calves in the next two weeks and they don't like the calves from last year hanging around. Tough world out there in the bush.

Baby Chicks and a Bear!

An exciting trip to town today. We have spent the past few days fixing up the chicken barn. Ken had to put new roofing on it and I had the inside detail. All the goodies that come out will be the food for my garden is a couple of years (remember, this is the Yukon and it is bloody cold, compost takes time up here).
The chicks came in on the 5 pm plane from Edmonton. They have thankfully changed their schedule, it used to be on the 10 pm one. Then time to get the chicks to the feed store, sorting bills etc. We live an hour and a half from Whitehorse so made for late nights. This is much nicer. The chicks come in a cardboard carton with 25 to a section. We got 78 altogether. They usually give you an extra one for each 25 you order. Last year I got 100....it was too much work for not much reward.
When we get home we take them out to the chicken barn and put each one's bill into the water so they get the idea of drinking. They are pretty amazing. It takes them about a minute to find the food and start drinking, eating and exploring. They are born with incredible instincts.
If you look closely you can see my stumpy-tailed cattle dog Cassie looking very alert. She is so happy to get her job back. She herds the little ones with her nose if they get out of the enclosure. When they are larger she helps me get them back inside for a lock up. Any dogs that come around when the chickens are here are in for big trouble! She attacks them and drives them away, even the few dogs that are her 'friends'. She takes her job very seriously.
Unfortunately these super cute chicks turn into really ugly adolescent chickens in a couple of weeks. Sort of the opposite of the ugly duckling story. But let me tell you, they are super tasty!!!
Then the bonus, a black bear that sat still for a couple of photos on the way home. It was very busy eating newly sprouted dandelions by the side of the road. This time of year you see lots of bears doing the same thing. I saw another one on Tuesday going to school. It stood up on his hind legs to get a good look, but then it ran away before I could get a picture.

Gardening in the Land of the Midnight Sun

The picture of the plants under the grow lights was taken 23 March. They moved into the greenhouse later that week. Next one was taken 9 April. These summer squash are in the beds and have babies now. Outside shot taken same day, wow, what a change! Not only is the snow gone, some tiny green things are coming up.
My Mister Lincoln rose has it's first bloom!! It smells wonderful. The entire greenhouse if full of perfume, a really strong rose this one. I took this photo today, as well as the ones of the plants. As you can see, my new greenhouse has a nice crop of pots in it. Great place to dry them, shop is cold and I am sick of making fires. It has been 30 C all week in there, got to get them sanded and terra sig'd to fire by Thursday. First ship of the year comes in on May 5 th, won't have these guys smoke fired by then, but by the next weekend.

Parents at School Today

Had a great day at school today. Moms, Aunties and Grandparents came to the K-4 class today. Sometimes I think the adults have more fun than the kids. We had our class pets out too, Dino the T-Rex and the snakes. Kids made lots of stuff, we went through 50 lbs of clay! In fact some stayed for afterschool pottery.

New House Pet

I have been really busy making stuff for my Summer orders. Tonight we had some people in for dinner and one of them brought their new pet....Not really! Billy is the guy who traps the line behind our place. He parks his truck at our house and takes his snow machine out on the trapline. They had been out for the week and we had dinner for them when they came in. He had caught this wolverine. This is about the only way you get to see one of them. They are very interesting animals. They are really powerful for being so small. This one was a male and weighed 22 lbs.
By the way, the news from the school's Bison hunt was that they have been successful! Yippie!! A Bison feast this Spring. They will bring it into the school and cut it up. All the elders in the community will get some meat.

Will the Lake Blow Out??

You can see the ice on the shore, the remnants from the latest freeze up. A couple of weeks ago it blew pretty hard and took out the waterhole. Then it got cold and froze up again. Today it got really windy and warm. Almost freezing! -4 C. We walked down to the Lake to see how close it was to going out again. You could hear the noise all the way up at the house.
There was overflow all over, luckily just a few inches of snow so not too sloppy. The open water was bashing and crashing away. Still 8 inches of ice though. You could also hear the water under the ice, just a wee bit creepy.
Ken went back and got his snow machine and the water pails. Filled everything up just in case.
This is typical weather in a year when there is an El Nino. Most of our weather comes off the Gulf of Alaska, primo storm breeding grounds. Makes for a warmer than normal and cloudier than normal winter. The forecast for next week is in the minus teens and sunny. Yippie! My favorite winter weather.