it's baaaack!

Sometimes it’s so easy to forget how fast seasons change!  Even though it was the second wettest summer this region has had on record, the rains mainly came in the evening, and our summer was just right – and yielded a harvest beyond belief!
Bill has been working his wonders in the kitchen – from pickled tri-colored carrots, to watermelon pickles, turnip hash browns (OH are they YUMMY!) to baskets of more carrots and potatoes, peas, raspberries, jams and honey from rhubarb to lemon, vanilla to rosehip and even black currants and yummy yellow raspberry jam, too! His pickled beets are going fast – they are sooo good on salads – especially with lettuce and all the other makings fresh from the garden.
The usual September winds did not blow through this year, so we enjoyed an amazing array of neon colored trees, and marveled at the colors on the mountains as they turned rust red and deep greens, dotted with neon yellow trees here and there, to the now turned brown and………yep!! First snowfalls!
So far they have only been “termination dust” – meaning powdered sugar warnings that winter is a brief 6 weeks away, but they are calling for the real deal this weekend and in the seven day forecast, my husband said: “time to pull the lined Carhart bibs out!” (I didn’t tell him I’ve already been wearing lined Carhart jeans for 2 weeks now!)
So, as the wind howls today, ushering in our next wonderful season we so enjoy here in Alaska, we make sure the hot tub lid is hunkered down with the ropes and hooks, the firewood is covered. Bill had 10 cord cut and split by June this year, and we have been blessed  over the summer, where people were clearing and they were just going to do burn piles, they let him have the firewood – I think he said we have enough for 3 years now! You can tell he’s a true Alaskan now – always prepared!  As he said – “who knows what could happen to either of us or to a wood or food source?” Ahh, that wise man of mine – aren’t I blessed?
So, I think I’ll put some more wood in the stove and keep plugging away on editing Book 2: And Yet Another Day for Turning Life’s Obstacles and Adversity into Opportunities and Adventure – the “rest” of the fun stories behind Loose Screws and Skinned Knees!  Stay tuned!