A majority of my windows face south- which is such a blessing. The sun fills my home with light from early dawn to late dusk. It's welcoming and warming and the cats enjoy following the sunbeams as they walk across the cabin floor. On the other hand, yet another creature avidly enjoys the warmth of the sun. And those creatures are flies. Although I love flies- they are among one of my favorite critters to have in my house, when more than 50 of them have delved into my home things get noisey and frenzy and unfortunately unbearable. But Apollo, my albino male ferret, keeps them at bay for me. For whenever the buzzing gets to loud, he comes out from his blanket, climbs up the couch, crawls onto the windowsill, and targets, traps, and eats each and EVERY one of the buzzing creatures. Ferret foods is quite affordable with a little fly-eater like him. And he's much more efficient than I and a fly-swatter ever could be.
Cold Weathered Garden
On a sunshiney day, four days ago, I planted my garden. I tilled up a little lap of soil on the south facing side of my homestead's hill, organized different areas with pebbles from the beach, and then planted seeds of varying kinds. Carrots, loose-leaf lettuce, radishes, onions, green beans, snow peas, and potatoes. And of course, with the such luck I behold, a cold-front has blessed the landscape for the last three days. I'm sitting her impatiently awaiting the wind to change- and with it bring warmth and sunshine. But all I'm receiving is cloudy weather and chilled afternoons. I dearly hope my little seeds wait just a little longer to sprout- as this weather will do them no good as they grow.
Woodstove Swallow
For the last two days I have heard a rustling in my woodstove. I dismissed it as breezes taunting my chimney, but after two days of the cats looking up with curiosity- I myself became curious. With the help of my darling, we dismantled the stove, and out from the pipe shown the bright blue wings of a swallow. The poor thing was covered in soot. It's eyes were permanently closed. It was light and weak. After a few gentle dousings of water, though, it slowly opened it's eyes, and then began to demand it's freedom. Within only 10 minutes of washing it clean, it was ready to fly again. So out it went- to the morning sky. I felt so lucky to have helped the little darling. He seemed so thrilled to finally be beyond the confines of a wood-stove pipe. And the little darling has now blessed me with his company just beyond my kitchen window.
Yet Another Late Return
I have not written in quite some time. I often sit down to rebegin my documentation of my beautifully blessed Alaskan life, and somehow- life evades my inspiration and off I go in another adventure haven't not even documented my last. So I am back, today, to write a catch-up, and hopefully start writing again regularly.
The last few months have been busy, but beautiful. We had the warmest winter on record in Alaska. There was rarely even snow! We had such minimal amounts that the road to my rural cabin stayed open all winter long- and travel to and from the village was quite convenient. Next year probably won't be so easy. But the first year in my new home was surprisingly welcoming. We didn't need to burn the woodstove too often, or pull out sleds to travel. In fact most of the places I went this winter were by foot- which is a rarity in Alaska.
In midwinter I fostered three beautiful Native Yup'ik Eskimo children- as I had mentioned in my last post. They will forever have my heart. Blanche, Booper, and Cynthia. They blessed my home with laughter, loudness- and most of all, love. They come to visit regularly now. They are back that their mothers, which is a blessing. I do miss them dearly, though. Having children (even if it was for a mere couple months) made my life more fulfilled than it has been in quite some time.
My two new feline members did come. Magpie and Minnie Mag. But along with them, purely by fate, arrived Toby (a siamese boy) and Ozzy (short for ocelot, which he looks a lot like). And shortly after them came Apollyon, Mangey, and Shiva three ferrets from the Forget-Me-Not Ferret Rescue in Alaska.
It is now summer. I have tilled and planted a garden in my front yard. It overlooks the Yukon River. I am in the process of building a large fenced run for the pups (who are hyper and loving as usual). Life is treating me beautifully, and I promise to write about it from now on.
The last few months have been busy, but beautiful. We had the warmest winter on record in Alaska. There was rarely even snow! We had such minimal amounts that the road to my rural cabin stayed open all winter long- and travel to and from the village was quite convenient. Next year probably won't be so easy. But the first year in my new home was surprisingly welcoming. We didn't need to burn the woodstove too often, or pull out sleds to travel. In fact most of the places I went this winter were by foot- which is a rarity in Alaska.
In midwinter I fostered three beautiful Native Yup'ik Eskimo children- as I had mentioned in my last post. They will forever have my heart. Blanche, Booper, and Cynthia. They blessed my home with laughter, loudness- and most of all, love. They come to visit regularly now. They are back that their mothers, which is a blessing. I do miss them dearly, though. Having children (even if it was for a mere couple months) made my life more fulfilled than it has been in quite some time.
My two new feline members did come. Magpie and Minnie Mag. But along with them, purely by fate, arrived Toby (a siamese boy) and Ozzy (short for ocelot, which he looks a lot like). And shortly after them came Apollyon, Mangey, and Shiva three ferrets from the Forget-Me-Not Ferret Rescue in Alaska.
It is now summer. I have tilled and planted a garden in my front yard. It overlooks the Yukon River. I am in the process of building a large fenced run for the pups (who are hyper and loving as usual). Life is treating me beautifully, and I promise to write about it from now on.
My Very Late Return
So I vanished for a while- about four months. Jeez, time flies! So what did I do? Officially settled into my new homestead. Rascal is doing amazing- no signs of abuse at all anymore. He's just a normal pup now. Coho and him keep each other entertained 24/7. I fostered three native children for the tribe over Christmas while their mom was in treatment. It was a really wonderful experience- and I fe...el so privileged to have been a part of it. I built a maqii (Eskimo steam house) and am learning the ways of VERY hot bathing. And in two days I shall be adopting two very beautiful cats from Clear Creek Cat Rescue. The adoption has been arranged for a while (nearly four months), but fate postponed it until now. I'm very eager to have my new family members officially home though! And other than that I've been very busy. Getting by doing what little bush dwellers do- lighting woodstoves and packing water and complaining a lot about the weather.
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