The Light at The End of The Tunnel, Holiday, Vacation . . . Bliss, Freedom, Yahoooooo!

It is that time of the year all teachers look forward to and all kids look forward to 

SUMMER VACATION!

I actually like prefer the word HOLIDAY over VACATION as it just sounds more appealing and downright BETTER than vacation.  On Wednesday afternoon I will be on HOLIDAY for 3 months . . . let the reverse migration start.  For now, I am still enjoying my northern latitude home and life.

This little collection of photos is from March '16.  Our ski season was shorter this year and I only was able to get in 102 days of skiing.  I always have a goal of 100 days on skis but would love to hit 125 in a perfect winter.

I started a pair of Kate Davies' fingerless mitts called Pawkies.  This is a fast knit.  I have one mitt done but need to get a better photo outside to show the colors better as her Buachaille yarn is wonderful! Kate's Buachaille Yarn is rich in color, has a wonderful hand, and a joy to knit with--I highly recommend the splurge!

As normal, I have a pair of socks on the needles.  This colorway is Whiskey Spring from my favorite local yarn shop in Montana: Polka Dot Sheep 

The Unspun Icelandic Wool Sweater is done! Off the needles, blocked, and worn! To read more about this Lopi design go back to this previous post. I need an outside photo of this sweater.

I do love how the colors came together and the neck.  The neck is a folded over and then a sewn down cast-off.  This method, I feel gives the most stretch/elastic to a neck.

Miss Sadie on the tundra a few weeks ago. 

Recently, we have been having huge dramatic clouds with little rain.  We did just have a few nights of rain which was really needed.  The tundra has been very dry and crisp.

This flower is known as the "Wooly Lousewort" or "bumble bee flower".  It is blooming all over our tundra at present.  It is such a wonderful treat to finally see something that isn't just various shades of brown!

My morning walks have been wonderful and I am so glad I have moved out of the gym.  Sadie and I walk 2 miles every morning just to get the blood flowing.  When we started walking I would wear a headlamp.  It was dark at the start and finish of our walks. We now have over 18 hours of sunlight.  The sun is rising as we head out.  We get to enjoy the sunrise over the tundra. I love it! Below is the slough that we cross to ski in the winter.  The snowfence is where we run most of our elementary ski practices.  In the distance you can see the fog/mist rising up from the river and hills in the background (2nd photo).  On the other side of those hills is the Yukon River.

About 5:45 a.m. sun rise . . . not a bad way to start the morning walk!

This is before 6 a.m.

Looking towards Unalakleet about 6:15 a.m. again looking s-w down the slough. 

There you have my northern world.  The summer HOLIDAY will soon start.  Time to relax and slow down . . . we will be heading south soon!

Good Morning!

Morning is my time of day and I love to be left alone to enjoy my time! Some folks are night people something I can not understand at all, just like night people don't get morning people.  I know it is a genetic link somehow as my father was the before the crack of dawn guy. Nothing is better than that first cup of coffee early in the morning---just wonderful!

When in Montana it is great to be out on the deck or yard with my coffee, or sitting on a porch.  Our neighborhood is a great place as several of our neighbors will be out with coffee too. We might all visit together in some one's front yard looking at flowers or sitting on one of our porches. Speaking of porches, once back in Montana, I will have a new front porch not done but very close to being done!  I can not wait as last summer we were front-porch-less a horrible thing but on our way to new porch a great thing.

Back to mornings . . . This fall in October '15, I started my morning workouts up again at the school gym.  They are not huge workouts but consist of 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, situps from an APP, I use which is actually a great workout full of a wide variety of routines.   Then I follow it all up with a yoga routine which focuses on back stretching.

Sadie comes with me as I really don't like being in the gym alone.  Not to mention our school years ago was built on top of an old grave yard . . . I sure you get my drift!  Out here in a native village ghost are very real to the culture and I have heard some interesting ghost stories.  My workout buddy is Sadie who is half Akbash guardian dog!

Now that the roads are clear Sadie and sometimes Tally will join us for a 2 mile "Good Morning" walk out to my friend "Lynn's Sign."  Lynn has since retired and left the village but as I should say the "Lynn's Sign Post" is there but the sign is gone.  No one is up early here in the village just us!  I will add it is now bird season so there are a few hunters heading out to slay the returning migratory birds.

These early morning walks started with me wearing a headlamp and now I don't need to wear one at all.  We are currently at 16 hours and 46 minutes of daylight.  First sunlight is now 5:10 a.m. and last light is at 12:13 a.m.   The amount of daylight is fastly changing and to be honest it is nice but I get tired of so much light.  It doesn't really affect me at all. We go to sleep with the window open no shades pulled.  We fall asleep in a room full of light looking like noon and will soon be waking up to that amount  pouring into our window.  Others cover their windows, but I can not stand feeling closed in and I have no issue going to sleep.  Sunrise and sunset are stellar, and much like the northern lights, I never tire of see what Mother Nature can paint.

Recent full moon 4/25 over the slough and village.  The ice in the slough and river have since departed to the ocean.

April 29th sunrise on morning walk.  Low tide on the slough and the ice has headed out.  In the far distance you can see the Nulato Hills and a fog bank to the south-west.

Looking east as the sunrises up over the Whale Back Mountains/hills, the slough and tundra.

Sweater: Stryta

Just an update on my unspun Icelandic wool sweater. 

(Yes there should be an accent over the "y" but I can not get the trusty old computer to do this for a "y"---why who knows!)

I have really grown to like this fiber.  It is far tougher than one would ever think.  It knits up well and yes it does break once in awhile but you just spit-splice it right back together.  I am very curious to see this sweater blocked and to see how the yarn blossoms.

The body--I have about a half inch to go on this part of the sweater.

Of course a sleeve.  Both sleeves are just waiting to meet up with the body.

I did add three sets of short rows to the back of the sweater.  My favorite technique for short rows is the German Short Rows.  These method is the easiest to do create without any weird gaping holes and funky looking spots within the knitted fabric.  I highly recommend learning this technique to have in your arsenal of "knitting ins and outs."  The fit I am trying for is a bit  closer and not so loose.  I am knitting a large but with the unspun my gauge is different from the pattern 4 sts to an inch.  This is never a concern for me as I use EZ's percentage system, measure often and try on the garment. I can adjust as needed.  I have added two sets of  increases as well as I am knitting the body. When I get closer to joining up all the parts i will figure out if I need to increase or decrease to get to the pattern repeat.

Tundra Dust & Unspun Icelandic Wool

Brown spring Tundra and Unalakleet River Ice still in place

I love living on the Alaskan tundra!  The plant life is amazing, the tundra is full of rich colorful lichen.  This year the tundra has not turned colorful yet. Everything is still brown and covered in dust close to the road. Our days now have  over 15 hours of daylight.  Actually, we have more than that as sunrises and sunsets are very exaggerated.  No rain has come through yet and we are a rather brown place.

The "Girls" ejoying the stick pull on the still brown tundra.

Nothing like an afternoon romp with your best buddy!

The migratory birds are just starting to return.  I have seen ducks but nothing else yet.  We will have swans, cranes, geese, and ducks returning.  These birds will be flying even further north if they make it pass the villages and not into freezers.  Spring is bird season here and everyone will be out hunting birds.  I do find this strange but they have a bird season in the spring and fall.

River ice is still in place and hasn't departed.  I would think this weekend the river ice will break-up and headed out to sea.

I really do appreciate the rhythm of the seasons and how life revolves around these changes.

Lopi Sweater:

My sweater is coming right along.  I am enjoying knitting with unspun wool.  I have found it easy to knit with and even enjoy knitting from a cake of yarn.  I am after a closer fitting sweater than I usually knit.  I am a little leary how this one will come out!  I am trying it on as I go to make sure I am knitting up a wearable piece.  Plus, I measure, measure, measure as I knit along.  So far everything seems to me working out well!

Lopi sweater knitted with unspun Icelandic wool which I must admit I really am enjoying!

Drip Castles

Anyone remember making drip castles?  Today on our dog/beach walk I came across drip castles that were being formed by melting chunks of sea ice.  These chunks of ice get attached to the ocean floor and in storms they are often flipped over. The ice chunks land on the beach so the mud is on the top.  Today is the first time I have seen  drip castles being formed from melting ice and sand/mud.

Beach walks are a treat other than all the dead fish and what not the dogs love to eat or roll in--ugh!  I am facing south and north is obviously behind me, with Norton Sound on the west.

Christian heading north on the beach.

Tally back on leash after the beach walk buffet.

Skijoring

I mentioned Skijoring in a previous post and was asked a few questions. Mainly, I was asked "What is Skijoring?"  Here is a post to explain Skijoring!

Skijoring requires a person on skis and one who does in fact know how to ski well.  A dog which loves to pull that wears a harness to pull with! 

NEVER EVER DOES A DOG PULL WITH A COLLAR A HARNESS IS A MUST!

This the waist belt that I use for skijoring.

Quick release from me to my dog that I can pull one-handed.

The brand of the waistbelt I use for skijoring.

Here is one of the lines we use and the thicker part has the bungee cord.  

Also the human needs to wear a harness and the line from the dog to the upright person has a bungee cord section.  Please note just because your dog might be some kind of a dog that should pull doesn't mean they will like to pull, be willing to pull, or enjoy ski poles and skis around them . . . so it all does take patiences, skills and training.

We have two dogs and one enjoys pulling and is actually pretty good at joring.  The other one "person-jores" Sadie usually just trots along behind me!  She isn't interested in skijoring at all.  She will pull if her and Tally are together side by side, but actually Tally does most of the work.  Sadie only pulls one direction.  She will pull me eagerly from the west side of the slough across to the Dragon's Back (where we hold ski practices) if there are a bunch of kids over at our meeting place.  Other than that she is convinced she is above this activity!

My husband wears a climbing harness for skijoring and I have a simpler harness/waistbelt.  Both harnesses have a quick-release hook for the upright to pull if needed.  I have never used it but appreciate knowing I have one on my waist belt.  Tally knows the word STOP and this is a must for me in skijoring.

These photos are from our friends up north who are serious skijorers.  Mallory is on the right and she is an amazing kid!  She lives a life full of outdoor adventure with her family.  The two adults actually just skijored from Unalakleet to Nome during the Iditarod.

Two adult skijores in Nome visiting Mal and her dad Keith out for a skijor.  There is an article in the Nome Nugget but I can not find the correct issue (March 2016). 

Sadie doing ok joring here but she really isn't a huge fan of this activity. 

Christian and Tally enjoying a skijor.

Keith up in Nome skijoring with friends. 

Sadie in harness by Ruffwear. Ruffwear has updated and made improvements to their harnesses.  This one is older and still works just fine.  We ski over 100 days a year and our dogs wear this every day we ski.  We love the handle on it as we have had to use it often to grab or pull our dogs out of situations.  

This is the other harness we use and it is excellent as well.  You need to take measurements and and it is made to fit your dog. I can not seem to locate their website, but I did find their gear on pinterest. 

Some links for further reading on skijoring:

Mallory's Website with her story on skijoring.  Which gives great info as she has grown-up in this sport.

A wonderful resource which I highly recommend reading if you are interested in skijoring is Skijor With Your Dog.

http://www.ruffwear.com/Products/dog_harnesses

Walking

All winter long, well actually since October, I head to the gym at school with my trusted buddy Sadie.  I use an elliptical machine, a balance board, and do sit-ups and yoga.  I do this 5 days a week unless there was a basketball tournament. I stay away from the gym like the plague if there is basketball tournament.  The afternoons, I ski and thus that is my little routine.

I have switched to walking in the mornings and then a walk after school since the snow has departed early this year.  The early morning walks are with Sadie.  I am still wearing a head lamp.  During my morning workouts and walk I listen to audiobooks or podcasts.

My favorite podcaster is Louise Scollay who has a blog for her podcast full of great information. I really enjoy Knit_British for several reasons. Louise loves 100% real wool, has a wide variety of knitting people on her podcasts, and Louise covers a wide variety of topics.  As I walk in the early hours, I listen to Knit_British and feel like I have a like minded knitting partner out here on the "edge of nowhere."  I also just love wooly Scotland!

This is going to change soon as our daylight hours just broke 15 sun filled hours. The change is fast and stunning.  I find, I like the darkness more than the increasing daylight. I have no problem going to sleep in full on daylight and waking up to it either.  The sunshine is intense and seems never ending.

Back to walking . . . the village we live in only has one road leaving the place so walking at times is to be honest is a bit boring on the road in the mornings!  We also have the beach but that is full of a lot of dead things and it is not a relaxing walk with the dogs, although it is beautiful! Walking the paved road and then dirt road is not that interesting.  We do see foxes once in awhile or wake up the dogs in the dog yards. Nothing like howling sled dogs before 6 a.m..  Sadie walks very proudly as if saying, "I am free, I am not a dog on a stick, I don't have to pull anyone, I am on a walk!" as she prances by the dog yards.

What I never tirer of are the glorious sunrises over the tundra.  The colors are amazing and just bring the land to life.  We still have ice on the slough and river so we get some great reflections from the sky on the ice.

This was yesterday's sunrise.  Ice on the slough with boats waiting to be returned to the river.  Not bad since the photo was taken with my phone. I will try to get some photos that actually show the intense beauty of our northern skies.

Afternoon dog walk with Tally.  A brown tundra that is still a bit frozen.  That photos was taken towards the north-east. 

Jumping into spring!  I do carry bear spray as the big ol'bears are out and about.  We did have 4 dogs with us and I wasn't alone.  Always better safe than sorry!

The Village of Unalakleet.  The sea ice is just about gone. The sloughs and river are still covered in ice with overflow covering the ice in most places. 

A Thank You Can Come With Many Legs

Yesterday, we headed out on the tundra for our daily "One must get out of away from the house & work and do something--thing!"  It is always nice to be out and nothing on the tundra is turning green yet as it is still below freezing at night.  I do look forward to plant life bursting into a wide variety of greens!  The tundra is still mostly frozen and walking on it is a dream right now.  One is not sinking/stepping in unknown holes up to their knees or higher at random.  Plus, the tundra is not very wet yet.

Right after work my stellar storage waxing team and I were able to get all the ski gear to sleep for the summer!  Waxed about 70 pairs of skis this week after school!

The band of snow up that drainage is one of our ski trails and we will be heading out to ski a few more times there today and Saturday!  It is so hard for me to call the ski season over.

My best and dearest!  Christian with Sadie.  In the background you can still see the river ice and see that the sea ice is gone for the most part. 

Dinner should up last night!  One of the ski families that ski with us dropped off two HUGE King Brown Crabs!  YUMMY!  They went right into the pot!

Many legs of thanks!

There is not a lot in the world that tastes better than this for dinner . . . well may be lobster!