Tag Archives: Off grid

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Adventures around every corner

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In the state of Alaska wild game and fish is never wasted. If an animal is hit, a poacher caught or for any reason there is fresh meat or fish it is not wasted but given to residents to consume.

Last night just before 9 pm I got a call from the state troopers. They had a Moose available and did I want it? Yes! Of course I wanted it so I got the directions and called our dear friends Dan and  Robin to ask if they could “claim” it for us as we would not meet the 30 minute window to arrive on scene. Dan of course was out the door and gone before I could say thank you. Dear hubby, Cati and I loaded the tools needed to Field dress a Moose and in the Argo we went to head to the road. All was going well until we reached the bridge to cross the creek. Ah oh, only half a bridge left. Dear hubby gets out and looks over the situation and like our brains do on many occasions we both got a great idea, the creek narrows just above there and there’s fallen logs so why not “jump” over there? Okay realistically my mind  Was thinking “lack of a safe crossing will not stop me from hundreds of pounds of meat” so with a whoosh of my mom cape, the crunch of the willows I must drive through and the sounds of the meat grinder dancing through my head I attempted to cross the minor abyss standing between me and meat. Like a boss the little green giant navigated through the rough crossing and we were off.
Finally arriving at the truck, a mile until we reach a real road, 6 miles to the turn off the troopers said to take and only a 1/4 mile hike to the prize…..right!   The first of the instructions were spot on, the 1/4 mile hike not so correct. It was more like a mile through a gravel pit, over a couple of hills and down a draw next to a huge water hole but we were there and The prize was a huge cow Moose. The reason she was available is she decided a hiker was a great punching bag. Sad, but that’s what momma Moose do when they have babies. Poor guy going for a hike felt terrible he had to protect himself and after seeing her 2 orphan babies I felt bad too but her death would not be in vain, she will feed several families. 

Our friends son Brandon is awesome. Yes, I will admit I am envious of his knowledge and he came to help get it field dressed and hauled in for which I’m eternally grateful for. Yes, we could of managed but watching him quarter that Moose I learned so much. I’m no rookie to field dressing deer and antelope but Moose is a totally different creature due to its size but he made it look simple and I will say I am much more prepared for the next one due to his instruction. My back also is thankful for he and his son bringing wheelers and a meat wagon to haul it out. Alright if I were a man that meat wagon would cause me to have a serious man crush on him. (Snicker) I wish I would of gotten pics of it as it’s incredible! 

By the time we got back to Dan and Robins house it was 12:30 a.m. and I was cold, wet so I left Cati and the men to hang and wash off the meat. I went inside and visited with Robin until finally at 2:30 the guys were all visited out and it was time to head home. 

The first thing that happened when I pulled out of the driveway onto the road is a Moose jumped out, close call but I didn’t hit it. Thank heavens as I was about Moosed out for the night. We turned onto the trail to head to the Argo parking area and when we got there another Moose was standing by the Argo and then another! I thought I was hallucinating! They of course spooked and trotted away but one was curious and kept inching back towards us, Cati was a little nervous and that girl jumped in the Argo faster than I have ever seen her move. 

1:00 a.m.

3:30 a.m.

We finally arrived home around 3:30 a.m. Bed never looked so good!

Our adventure will reap the reward of meat for the freezer, jerky and we will of course share with our friends. It’s was great spending time with hubby and Cati building another memory that will be passed on for generations I hope. I am thankful for so many things but mostly that we and our friends all made it home safely. That is the best blessing of all. 

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Let the holiday preps begin!

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This week has been a flurry of activity. Feathers literally flying as we prepare our birds and assisted others in dressing out theirs for the Thanksgiving Day feast. The temperatures have not been my friend though as it’s been quite chilly for plucking. 

Matt and Mary great friends!
Tony holding the goose

Now is the time I can slow down and while still preparing for our feast I take time to reflect on the last few decades that I have been blessed with the ability to create memories. Memories my children will carry with them and hopefully traditions too.  Life before off grid was much different than now. Not only did I have a huge meal to prepare but we used to have 30 or more join us. Now it’s a small affair with 9 or 10 as we have friends joining us this year and it will be a party like atmosphere once again. 

One thing I started many years ago was making my dressing in advance. It’s cornbread dressing full of sage sausage,dried apples, cranberries and walnuts. I bake one pan in a loaf pan, cool then slice it. The morning before thanksgiving I brown these slices and serve them with maple syrup. I know it’s one of the kids’ favorite treats but only now when they began talking about it a week ago did I realize how important it truly is to them. Funny thing is it all began when I was trying to save time and it started a whole new tradition!

My friend called me the other day to let me know he was doing his part to reduce the wolf population. They have become so aggressive and are now chewing through chicken coops and destroying livestock. He stepped out in his back yard just in time and was able to remove this threat from the equation. A big male wolf that won’t be a problem any longer.

The weather is finally leveling out and snow is in the forecast. I’m anxious as it always puts me in the holiday spirit. I love the snow, especially at night when there’s a full moon and it twinkles and glistens on the ground then you look up and see the stars doing the same. It’s such a mystical time and makes me feel so alive and blessed to witness such a sight.

The sun is now in the south and our daylight is limited but still enough light out to accomplish chores and have some play time outdoors. It’s a great time for taking pictures as the light casts shadows that create paintings of light and texture even with my phones camera.

It seems I’m literally running the wheels off the little green giant. Coming home I must of hit a stick frozen in the ground as I lost the front tire due to a huge gash. So many hazards that cannot be seen but they are pretty weatherchecked so is to be expected. I love that little machine though-I can’t think of anything that I’ve ever driven that makes me feel so alive-it’s like driving a little tank-I do believe it’s personality is much like mine:pushy, aggressive and even when broken keeps going until the job is completed. She’s definitely got attitude!

Even the elves have been busy around here-little Ellie “or Cinder Ellie” as she is now called helped with the cleaning and getting ready for company. You’ll be seeing more of the little elves of Two Moose Farm in the future. They are always popping up in the strangest places.

The girls and I had the pleasure of spending the night out with our friends Jody and Roger. It was nice visiting and Jody is such an awesome cook, she made a chocolate cake that was to die for! I never have had anything so delicious in all my life! I’m going to ask her permission and if she gives it I will share her recipe in a later post. 

Well folks I need to stoke the fire and get things going but I’ll share the pics of high noon in Alaska. Please excuse the green dot that appears in some, not sure why it does that if someone knows please tell me how to make it stop. 

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving all.

Do you see the salmon in the clouds?

***for those looking for dried fruits and veggies check out my friends at Carolina Food Storage they will not only provide you with excellent quality dehydrated and freeze dried non gmo foods but the customer service is outstanding and they are having a huge sale now!

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Changing times and life’s lessons

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I am one of those people. Yes, I frequently speak of “the good old days”. Remember? Do you remember when? When we lived in a less disposable world, when if something was broke you fixed it and didn’t run to the nearest big box store and just replace it. Do you remember the lessons that were part of everyday life? I do realize some of you are too young to have experienced the “good old days”so I will give you a brief overview. 

In days gone by appliances were repaired not replaced. They were built with good old US steel and were meant to last decades not years. TV’s had tubes, if something was amiss you could buy little number kits to number each slot and tube then take the tubes out, go to the electronics shop where they tested each one then sold you a replacement for the bad ones. In the good old days we old timers didn’t have “recycling” centers we just used items then passed them on to others as hand me downs until there was no life left in that item.

Shopping was much different back then. None of this plastic bags that fall over or rip spilling your groceries-we had brown bags. I miss brown bags. They were large enough to cut the ends out and use to roll cookie dough out, cover school books, make craft items heck we even cooked with them. You young folks may never know the awesome turkeys that were cooked in brown bags. The meat stayed so juicy yet the skin was just crispy enough to melt in your mouth. The oven stayed clean too as the grease splatters were contained. Yes, brown bags were so much better for our environment too as they would compost where as these plastic bags of today pollute our Environment by blowing around, wrapping in trees, power lines or end up in our lakes and oceans causing death to our sea life.

I could go on for hours about the good old days but I’ll stop and get to the point. Today I had an opportunity to share with my youngest son Caleb some of the “good old days”ingenuity. The little green giants throttle cable broke and his immediate reaction was-what are we gonna do call dad? Of course dad is miles away working to get firewood and water to the cabin so I responded to my son in the same way I was taught by my PawPaw to deal with situations. I explained to him we needed to assess the situation before doing anything. We had a tool box and the ever present baling wire so instead of calling for help-maybe we should first see if we could help ourselves. 

Tearing into a throttle assembly in the woods may not seem like much fun for others-especially at 20 degrees out but for me it was one of the best days I’ve had in a long while. Finding the broken cable, asking Caleb his opinion, listening to his ideas and finally coming to the conclusion we did not have the needed parts to fix but that did not mean we were down and out. My son learned a few lessons today. He learned where there’s a will there is always a way. He also learned that teamwork will move you forward when all seems lost. We ended up using a piece of wire to extend the cable, he controlled the right side steering and I controlled the throttle and left side steering. It was a temporary resolution that worked to get us out of the woods and to our truck. 

We headed into town and no parts could be found anywhere that I could makeshift a throttle but we did find a young man in a local repair shop who attempted to solder the cable. It didn’t work but once again I kept things calm and we worked a way out to hold the even shorter throttle cable with pliers and make it functional. Caleb then operated the throttle using care to heed my directions and I used the joysticks to steer-we made it home safely in the dark and cold where tomorrow he and his dad will work together and find a more permanent fix until the part can be replaced. It was a great day. My son learned so many lessons he will carry throughout his life and we built a memory that will last a lifetime.

I hope my ramblings leave you with food for thought. That perhaps when your in a frustrating situation you too will remember that just because something is broken the world hasn’t ended. Be it a piece of machinery, a person or a relationship-broken doesn’t mean you replace it it simply means you find a way to repair it and make it whole again.

God Bless you all and thank you for allowing me to come into your lives if even for a brief moment.

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A season of mixed emotions

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Another summer has come and gone, fall is quickly changing to winter and recent events have caused emotions to run as rampant as the winds in a brewing storm.

We have finally experienced the brutality of nature first hand with a vicious attack on our goat herd from wolves. It was quite a strange day, unease was in the air-we all felt it. It was as if we collectively knew the day in its calmness was masquerading the evil that was about to take place. Suddenly out of nowhere they attacked at once and in a split second it was over. A total of 5 goats lost and one struggling for her life. Mixed emotions for a moment overwhelmed me. I felt sorry for the goats going through the pain and trauma of dying, I felt sadness for my children experiencing it first hand, anger at the wolves for their being wolves but at the  same time I felt angry at myself. The self directed anger was more confusion in retrospect. I know that the wolves were hungry as they didn’t just leave the animals they drug them off so while my heart was aching at our loss I was angry at myself for being mad at wolves for feeding their family. Yes, I am sure this all sounds very odd but I asked myself would we as humans do the same when the need arose. It is with mixed Feelings I realized we must do what is needed to protect our livestock but care is also needed to maintain balance. Sometimes I think too much. 

It’s been a busy fall preparing for winter. My little green giant that sissy and Paul provided has proven to be worth its weight in gold-for those who don’t know already the little green giant is the Argo my sissy and her husband so thoughtfully provided for us to use to navigate through this boggy terrain. I’ve gotten used to driving her now and can go places without sinking to my elbows! ​

​Hog butchering has been completed for the fall and I was able to do some trading to get enough animal feed to last us through winter and some help getting our roof on. We also had enough to share with others and I am thankful God provided us with such bounty not just for us but for others too. Losing the goats means there won’t be any money for Christmas this year but we will be eating good with the hams and bacon We’ve smoked, all the canning the girls and I did, the fish dear hubby caught, our birds we still have to butcher and still some canning left to do as I acquired lots of potatoes in another trade.

Sitting here alone in the late night I reflect on what has happened over the last few years. We’ve had so many good times, some bad but the reality is I’m still at peace. I know some of the lessons life has taught us were difficult for my children but they have learned from them. I’ve never been one to shelter my children from reality and the recent events have shown them just how precious every minute of life truly is.

The cloudy rainy/snowy day has ended and the stars are twinkling bright enough you can see the ice crystals reflecting light. At my age it seems silly but I still find wonder, awe and beauty in that. We have also been blessed with many nights of clear skies and bright northern lights dancing across the sky. We are all excited that the freeze seems to be holding unlike last year when it would warm up for a week and thaw then freeze and repeat. The freeze up means we will have guests out more frequently and Thanksgiving will be a party. I’ve always been one who loved to cook  and to have friends and family celebrating the holidays with us. With the size of our turkey and ham there will be food aplenty. 

One last thing to share is the newest member of our family. Papa Fred has a new puppy that we got from a very nice lady across the inlet. She’s a mixed breed but looks very much like a Labrador and her name is little girl-it’s what she answers to so she must like it. Papa Fred and her are inseparable already as she cries and howls when he steps outside alone even for a minute.

Well I pray your all safe, warm and happy and as is my norm I’ll leave you with a few random pics. god Bless all and thanks for reading.

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Little Green Giant

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Today was such an awesome day! My sissy Cathy and her husband Paul filled a need for transportation for us. They had acquired an older Argo and brought it to us to use for as long as we need it. Such a blessing! I will be able to do so much more and be mobile. I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to all of us. I have thought of many different names for her but when dear hubby pulled up today and unfolded his 6’3″ frame from it I immediately knew she would forever be The Little Green Giant. 

Winter is quickly approaching and snow is in the forecast. I look forward to the freeze up as that means I can butcher hogs and smoke hams and bacon. There’s nothing like birch smoked bacon frying in the pan on a cold winter day. It’s amazing how the sweetness of the birch wood makes the crispy bacon melt in your mouth. Soon!

The girls are excited as their birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day this year so we will be doing something fun on the weekend. This computes to having 2 birthdays in their eyes. We will be having guests this year and that in itself is a party. 

Let’s not forget Halloween. The kids are already discussing what they will dress up as and how they will be sharing their candy with the adults. With having the Argo we will be able to attend many more functions and not fear coming home after dark.

It’s berry picking time again now that the cranberries have gone through a good freeze. I love the flavor of the low bush cranberries so tomorrow I’ll be out gathering to put up for the winter. Speaking of putting up for the winter if you are looking for foods to have in emergencies check out my friends at Carolinafoodstorage.com. They carry delicious, healthy foods that are shelf stable for years. 

Well folks it’s been a long day and I need to get some rest so I will leave you with a few random pics. Have a blessed night and don’t forget to share us with others as winter brings more time for blogging and we will also be having some drawings for cool prizes from some of our friends.

Come join us on periscope for live real time feeds!  We are Off Grid Mom.

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Soggy Bottomed Mom

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Rain…..It seems to be the bane of my existence. Not the gentle rainfall poets write about, not a sprinkling to cleanse the air and brighten the fall colors. Oh nooooo, it comes down like a hammer on a chisel, slowly eating away at my last nerve. 20 plus inches and counting for the month of September. 20 plus inches that have made my normal happy go lucky self turn into a raging, maniacal, soggy bottomed mom! Not much can get me down but the constant flooding of animal pens, boots stuck in the muck, leaking rubber boots, cranky kids who need room to run and sunshine to blossom and instead we get more rain. Grrrrrr, alright rant over now on to the soggy bottom mom escapades. 

No season is complete around here until the mom is forced to put on the mom cape and charge to the rescue of some poor animal that has found itself in dire need of rescuing. I shall not disappoint! 3 a.m. And it’s raining-no scratch that, it’s pouring as if the sky opened up and Niagra Falls came rushing out. Above the deafening noise I hear a faint cry. Just a whisper really but the mom radar is singing in my head and I know there’s a critter in trouble. Quietly (as if anyone in this cabin could be awakened by anything short of a bull horn) I venture out in my pajamas aka sweats, tshirt and crocs. I can hear a faint mewing sound but can’t see in the darkness quite what it is. Crouching down to peer under the deck of the cabin with a flashlight who’s batteries died a week ago, still I see nothing then surprise!!!!  As I was attempting to find the source of the odd sound-yes not a smart move living in the wilderness as we do-the sound found me!  One of our kittens had made its way off the porch and was cold and wet under the deck. Now before you get this Awwww, sweet kitty rescue picture in your head let me tell you that 6 ounce ball of fur sprang so quickly from the abyss know as Under the porch I had zero warning, zero time to react and suddenly went from crouching to falling. Here I sat in the pouring rain in 6 inches of mud and water in my sweats with mud oozing in where no mud has gone before. After gently (yeah right) tossing said fur ball to the warmth of its momma who by the way was still sleeping in a ball covered in other kitties, and who was warm and dry I managed to drag myself to an upright position, all the while slipping and sliding in the cold mud and water and eventually made it onto the porch. By now Missy the wonder dog is awake and scratching the door to be let outside. I manage to find a towel hanging on the porch to dry my hand and let her out to join me and she takes 3 steps off the deck hits the standing mud and water then spins on a dime and retreats back inside, along with 42 gallons of muddy water on her paws. So here I stand with mud oozing from my clothes in the cold rain and wind and I refuse to drag the sloppy me inside so I roll the clothes off. Trust me if you ever get mud logged sweats you will understand this maneuver. Great, I’m standing outside in the darkness of night freezing parts that I will not mention and I realize after removing the clothing I’m still as muddy as before. I then mentally kick myself for what I’m about to do. Needing to get rinsed off I head for the rain barrel in the dark with a near dead flashlight. After a quick rinse off I head into the cabin and finally am beginning to warm up and get dressed when dear hubby gets up and comments “is it still raining”? Of course he knows nothing of my early morning escapades and I just smile and poor the coffee. The soggy bottomed mom is just not up to explaining at that moment. The kitten? Oh yes the little demonic ball of fur is alive and well. She with her siblings will soon be going to new homes and unsuspecting moms.

We have a new neighbor-well kind of. A gentleman named Ron who just bought property at the trail head which is miles from us but is our closest neighbor. Nice guy from dear hubby and kids’ accounts. I’ve only spoken to Him on the phone but he seems very nice and excited to begin his off grid life. It’s always nice having like minded folks around. 

For those who are inquiring about Alaska property I’ve met a realtor who can help you with your every need. He is genuinely interested in finding the perfect place for each client and not out to just sell properties. Rarely do you find such gems. Jeff Trujillo will not sit idly at a desk he will get his boots dirty finding that perfect place for you. www.alaskarealestateguy.com

Please join me on Periscope I am Off Grid Mom https://www.periscope.tv/#share 

Our you tube channel is hereYouTube-Off Grid Alaska

And on Facebook you can find us here Facebook.com/offgridalaska

Have a blessed day all!

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Days getting shorter-fast

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I will miss these “lazy days of summer”. Already it is beginning to get dark before midnight and not light until almost 4a.m. Summer is too short but perhaps it is best as I cannot seem to sleep when it’s light out and there’s work to be done. Alright-the exception is rainy days and when it rains I sleep like a dog. Notice I didn’t say baby as none of my children ever slept longer than an hour as babies, my dog however could sleep for days!

It’s a rainy day and as much as I want to nap I do have things that need done. I completed the important chores and now I’m taking a few minutes to visit with all of you, my online friends. I want to thank you all for viewing and sharing the videos. We have exceeded 10,200 views on face book and now want to invite you to  our YouTube channel Off Grid Alaska. Here we will post any further videos and yes thanks to all of you and your positive responses I am over my camera shyness and inspired to do more. I must tell you that the guys at Stagvid Media are so very easy to work with, it’s like having family here and just visiting. Take a look at the videos they have uploaded if you want to see how beautiful our area truly is and how talented they are at capturing it.

We have so many chicks, turkey poults and ducklings now that are keeping us busy. I never dreamt we would have such a successful hatch. Pheasants, Quail, Chukars and Partridge are now in the incubator and I am praying we are blessed with the same results.Blueberry season is in full swing now. My kids informed me they can tell what time of year it is without a calendar because July we are always eating Salmon and Blueberries. I reminded them of how blessed we are by these natural bounties and as they stuffed blueberry muffins in their mouths they shook their heads in agreement.

If I haven’t told you before I’ll tell you now that I’ve discovered an awesome app called Periscope. It’s live feeds from all over the world. You can find me here. Periscope-offgridmom. It’s so much fun being able to go live and interact with people everywhere. Thank you Daniel Stafford for making me a periscope junky😊.

What a crazy couple of weeks it’s been. Dear hubby has been gone fishing and everything has decided to breakdown… Thank heavens I’m flexible and can go from a spatula operator to a shovel operator and then to wrenching. Most repairs are done but many are just band aid fixes for now until we can afford to buy the parts needed for permanent fixes. This is the life of an off gridder-always repairing and making do. 

I had the opportunity to meet a Facebook friend in person the other day while he was here with his family on vacation. I had to share With them the tractor boat launch in town. It’s an Alaska thing but I do believe they enjoyed it and it was such a pleasure meeting Bill Marriot and his family.

Fresh tomatoes-need I say more? Oh you know I will but doesn’t the thought, site, scent of fresh tomatoes just bring back a flood of memories from days gone by? Soon I will have fresh juicy ripe tomatoes and green ones too for frying. My greenhouses are exploding with growth and I am feeling very accomplished.


Well folks thank you again for listening to my ramblings and I’ll leave you with pics of my wonderful life. Also a video of wolves howling, I may have posted already but it’s so wonderful getting to capture the sound of their calls (no pics just audio) but worth sharing I think. God Bless and I hope you enjoy!​

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Summer highs and some are lows

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The last few days have been like a roller coaster. We’ve had beautiful weather, completed a video session, hatched out some chicks and then the mood changes to somber all due to things beyond our control. We lost a baby goat to a freak accident and then last night the Owls returned. One of our young pullets was his prey and even though she was in a sheltered place the owl managed to get her. Tonight I sit on owl watch. All the critters are tucked away in pens and I’m armed with enough noise makers to make him lose his hearing for days. Time to make it look like Fourth of July!!! 

Let’s move on as I am getting side tracked once again. Back to the chicks. What began as a science experiment for the kids has turned into a brooder full of chicks. We had been doing some studying (yes even though it’s summer) and the kids were wanting to do an experiment they found online where you hatch a chick out of its egg. We acquired a 12 volt incubator and decided to first try hatching eggs the traditional way. Not wanting it to be boring we used eggs that were 1-14 days old. To our surprise the eggs all hatched except 1! The only difference we have seen so far is the older eggs have had 1 chick to weak to go beyond pipping and it died in its shell. The rest hatched and are doing very well!  We will be doing our science experiment at a later date and I will keep you all informed of its progress and results.Our videos are now up and running and can be seen on YouTube. Here’s the link and our channel is Off Grid Alaska. Please join us in our everyday life and future videos will have how to’s and tips to living the off grid life. If there’s anything your interested in seeing please leave a comment here, on our Facebook page Offgrid Alaska or in the comments section of you tube. We want these videos to be for you and to share with others why we love this crazy, hectic and yet peaceful life.


The production company we are working with is amazing!!!! Stagvid Media can be found here Stagvid Media. What great guys they are to work with and they are so multifaceted in their abilities! No matter your needs from a small shoot to a major advertising campaign these gentleman can take your vision and bring it to life. If your at a loss as to which direction to go they can help build your campaign from the ground up. I am so blessed to call them my friends and creative partners on our video series.

The greenhouses have become mini jungles and I’m pleased at the progress we are making. Soon it will be canning and pickling time-my favorite thing to do! I love putting food up and knowing that it was produced right here. My kids like taking part as do dear hubby and Papa Fred so it’s a time of work, learning (for the kids) and memory making.I’ll bet you all were thinking I had suddenly become graceful as I haven’t posted any “oops” moments lately. Well, never fear-I’m still a clutz!  You would think that pouring water from a large barrel to a five gallon bucket would be boring. Ha! You were wrong! While transferring water for most is a simple task, for me it involves lots of assistants. Turkeys and chickens are always present but now I have that silly drake who hears the sound of water pouring and thinks it’s bath time. While using both hands to lift the barrel and one foot to attempt to keep the chickens and turkeys at bay because they think there might be some magical treat suddenly appear I forgot about the duck. Now Ritz (or Einstein as Caleb calls him) decides flying onto my head then diving for the bucket looks like a great idea I’m dodging various fowl and thinking how appropriate the word foul is at the moment-somehow my foot catches the bale of the bucket. While still holding the barrel which is now pouring down the front of me, kicking at birds and attempting to dislodge the bale from my foot I end up on my backside with the barrel across the yard and the bucket on my head. To add insult to injury I have an irate duck on my chest quacking out something that sounds a lot like a foghorn on acid. Yep folks Grace has left the building! Thank goodness it was warm out as if of had icicles in some pretty strange places. 


Well it’s back to owl duty but I’ll share some random pics and pray your in your happy place. God Bless

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Summer in full swing

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You can tell it’s summertime in Alaska by the smell of birch smoke and salmon in the air-well at my house anyway. Fish to be caught, smoked, canned and enjoyed now with more for later. Salmon is not unique to Alaska but Alaska salmon is unique! Sweet, firm and tasty. ​

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Apparently it is not just myself that feels this way as there is an organization devoted to sharing all about how salmon connects Alaskans. Check it out for yourself-it’s a great group with lots of stories, recipes and of course news about salmon. The salmon project can be found here atSalmon project.org. 

Went to the spring today with my son on our water run. What should take half an hour per trip turned into a two hour adventure. We watched a grouse try to distract us from her babies (look closely in the center of the picture you will see her in the tree), saw many berries forming and the wild flowers were amazing. Our time together wasn’t wasted as we enjoyed it immensely and I have come to realize as my children get older these times together will be fewer. Relish the moments folks for they are fleeting.


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Dear hubby turned 61 today. We celebrated with A feast of birch planked salmon, barley pilaf, candied carrots and salad from the greenhouse. Cati baked an amazing chocolate cherry cake but forgot to get a picture before we all gobbled it up.

Working on a new project that I hope will inspire others. I’m beginning to video the things we do here such as fish processing, soap making etc. I’m still a bit camera shy so bear with me as I work through this. Coming soon I promise!

Dear hubby recently was asked by Bore tips to test their gun cleaning swabs and whips. Let me tell you this is something you must check out! The ease of use and compact design is a must for any firearm owner. Easy use, easy clean up, you can take them anywhere which is a bonus if you hunt in an area that’s wet oh and one more bonus-keeping the bore whip in your barrel when transporting ensures you have a safe and clear firearm. Check them out for yourself and volunteer to test their products! You can find them at www.bore-tips.com

Well the fish is almost done smoking (it’s after 3a.m.) and I need to get it in the canning jars and process. I pray your all blessed with a warm bed, fully tummies and the love you deserve. God Bless

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Summer, gardening, babies and fishin’

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I love summer here. Alright I love every season here but especially the season I happen to be experiencing at the time. My greenhouses are growing and I’ve already harvested fresh cilantro and soon strawberries. Went fishing with the kids, yes it’s quite enjoyable now that they are older and I no longer must deal with snarls and tangles-my kids are growing fast and fishing they can handle almost alone. We didn’t have much luck but some visiting Canadians sure did! I tried mimicking them to “borrow” some of their luck but apparently I didn’t quite pronounce the “aye” right as the fish paid no attention to me. Was nice seeing the joy on the visitors faces as they caught kings and marveled over them. Danny Egger and his beautiful fish!

Danny Egger
Many new babies now on Two Moose Farm. 2 sets of twins and 1 single. 3 boys, 2 girls and many more mommas left to kid. There’s absolutely nothing more entertaining than watching baby goats.Sorry for the short post but with only 24 hours of daylight there’s never enough time. Praying you are all enjoying your summer and as is my norm here are a few random pics of life off grid.