My last first winter blog

Well folks,

Check out the new slide show..

My winter sojourn is over. But not to fear I will continue blogging as the year progresses. April 30, 2007 was my last day at Tutka Bay for the winter. Really hated to leave, as did Spike..So what has happened since my last blog a month ago?

Well let's see...the harbor finally unfroze, but the incoming water never unfroze and lordy, lordy, the outgoing septic line froze up tighter than dick's hat band. So the outhouse got a lot of usage for a couple of weeks.

So to backtrack a bit, in my last blog I told of the trials and tribulations of melting snow for water and conserving the remaining water for showers and toilets. Well, needless to say with the septic line frozen, I didn't have to melt water for the toilets any longer. Of course when it froze it did so in spectacular fashion.

The downstairs toilet had been temperamental all winter and had occasionally backed up. It had done so again, overflowing like a slow moving geyser. What fun. So after the clean up, I left it alone to wait it out. However (and there is always a however) once I saw the water in the bowl going down I got a mite impatient and decided to plunge it and assist the flow. Bad, baaaaad idea. All I managed to do was move the blockage down the line beyond where everything else flowed into the septic line..Of course I didn't realize this at the time, I just knew the toilet was still stopped up.

So in the middle of doing a load of laundry (after taking a shower), I was minding my own business playing on the internet when I started to hear a strange noise coming from the kitchen. So after hearing it a few times I got up to investigate..and lo and behold the sinks are backing up with water..all four of them. Yikes!! I run upstairs to shut off the washer, which is in a rinse stage. and then spend a nice chunk of time scooping out four sinks worth of soapy (and other) water. Then I let the washer finish and bailed that out as well.

So now I know the blockage is not where it was..I let Jon know what was going on and I end up removing all of the insulation under the house which was mightily duck taped in place and then open the clean outs to let air in.. So I slowly open the first clean out, which has a very long icicle hanging from it, leaned back as far as I can so I don't get gushed on and water is spewing everywhere of course. So once the pressure dies down I take it the rest of the way off. I did the same thing to two other clean outs and can see a block of ice going straight through the pipe. Nothing to do but wait for it to thaw.

So the outhouse became my best friend for a couple of weeks. Spike had to check it out as well. The walk to the outhouse was over about 3 feet of snow, so after trampling through it a few times I had knocked it down about 6 inches. Spike would follow me out there and all you could see of him was the top of his back and his tail.

Anyway, after close to a week the ice I had seen previously in the pipes was gone. This was in the pipe before it took a 90 degree turn and went underground. So I closed the first clean out and ran water down the drain to see if the pipes were free. And they were..woo hoo. So far so good. I closed the other two clean outs and enjoyed indoor plumbing at it's finest.

Two or three flushings later and a shower, it backed up again. Damn it. Back under the house to open the clean outs closest to where the line went into the ground. Apparently the line was frozen underground. So knowing exactly what was in the pipe I went prepared. Not wanting any poo on me and knowing water was going to come spewing out of the pipe, I donned my "no poo on me" outfit. A garbage bag with a hole cut in it for my head and two arm holes - Chest armor - and one garbage bag per arm, wrapped around and secured with twist ties...Quite the outfit. Unfortunately no pics of this get up. Rubber gloves, channel lock and read for action. Opened up the clean outs and out it all came. Even had Spike for company this time. But no little feline 'no poo on me' outfit for him.

I gave it a few days and tried again, only this time no poo water...just shower water, figuring the warm water would help melt anything in the pipe. And it may have but there was no way to tell if any water had gone down the septic line or not. Needless to say most of it did not and I had to open up the cleanouts and just forget about it.

Jon was able to get a plumber out there after a while and he dug up part of the line and found ice. We put hot water down the line but couldn't tell anything.

A few days later Jon came back and ran a hose down the line to flush it out, repaired the part that was cut out and viola I had indoor plumbing back..

You don't really realize what a luxury indoor plumbing is until you don't have it.

We also ended up having to run a long long line from the spring house to the tank room to start filling the tanks. This line literally went through the woods and along the beach, then up the deck. Lots of hose. At last water, both in and out.

So other than that most of the last month has been pretty normal. I spent time cleaning the cabins and getting them ready for guests and getting myself ready to go until June. It rained for almost two weeks straight and then the sun came out and the snow melted for the most part. Beautiful weather in Tutka Bay. Spike went on hikes with me and stayed out everyday longer and longer. He really loves it out here. We found a skeleton on our last hike. Looks like a fox. I tried to get Spike to stand over it to show his prowess as a hunter but couldn't get him to stay long enough to snap the pic. He sniffed and was done. Haven't seen any bear but it is getting to be that time. Never did see the moose but he has been around. Found fresh droppings around the staff cabin.


I got a close up view of Bald Eagle Love. Full blown screaming and carrying on at the tip top of a tree. I don't know how she hung on, the tree was swaying back and forth..but then again it only lasted 30 seconds and in typical male fashion, he screamed the whole time and then took off. Didn't even hang around for the cigarette. One pair is rebuilding a nest that didn't get reused last year so I have been watching them build it. It is pretty close to the lodge house so hopefully I will be able to get some shots of it and the babies.

Id'ed a Northern Saw Whet owl by sound. And Varied Thrushes (this is the species name not 'many' thrushes) and white crested sparrows are all a twitter in the trees as well. Warblers should be coming in soon.





I spent the last three days I was out here cleaning the main lodge house from top to bottom (yes I do windows), making a bunch of trips to the staff cabin to move my summer stuff over and getting the rest of my stuff ready to go. Needless to say I am tired. It was kinda like real work..

Eric and Jon have been coming over pretty regular getting the place summerized and ready to go,doing some repair work. Eric was kind enough to take Spike over with him the day before I was leaving so it would be one less thing to deal with and I could also get his bathroom thoroughly cleaned as well before the last minute. Spike will be staying at Christy and Eric's until I come back over in June. Then he will be coming out here for the summer. We will see how that works out. He may end up back in Homer for the summer.

So finally , I came back to Homer, loaded down with stuff for storage. We saw two small humpbacks on the way in and a small school of dolphins. No pics unfortunately. We couldn't get close enough to them.

I am staying at the homer hostel... www.homerhostel.com . The building is really cool. Check out the website for pics. Tomorrow, May 2nd, I am going to Seward and taking a Gray Whale Watching Cruise on May 3rd. I am hoping to do a half day at the Ididaride in Seward as well. www.ididaride.com .

Then back to Homer on the 5th for a few days, over to the lodge on the 10th through the 14th to help with some early guests, back to Homer until June 1st and then driving up to Denali for 5 days. Planning on camping out in Denali, taking two bus tours, do some hiking and hope to work in a Nenana White Water Rafting trip www.alaskaraft.com I will be back in Homer on the 6th, spend the night, pick up Spike and head back over to Tutka Bay for the summer.

So look for another blog chock full of pics of my adventures through the first week of June.

Peyton, my granddaughter, is doing great. They postponed her surgery again and her first surgery to fix her nose, lip and gum will at the end of May. They will also put tubes in her ears at the same time. She is gaining weight and both baby and mom are doing great. Unfortuntely I don't have any new pics yet. Still waiting on my ex to send them.

Hope everyone is doing well. I am having a great time. The weather is wonderful here. We have already had a couple of days in the low 50s!!

Talk to you all outsiders soon!!!

Lynda and Spike

Internet is for PORN!!

Funny as all get out. These are World of Warcraft characters btw!!

Spring has Sprung...or so says the calender..uh huh

Hi all,

I have a couple of adventures to relate to you all!! More Pics of Spike the Arctic Cat!! and what is it that I really do here all day long? Don't forget to check out the two new slide shows- They are at the top - a South Park character which you too can have, and a new link to news articles I find interesting. All added to the column on the left. If you are new to my blog check out the archives a well. Just a note - the year dates on the archives are wrong. Blogger is working on fixing that. They are all a year off.

Where is Spring? After a month of bright sunny days and cold cold temperatures, we are now forecast to get 4 - 8 inches of snow. It started snowing here today around noon and it is coming down hard 6 hours later. But good thing is the temp is warming up and we are above freezing right now. Hopefully a few days of this will unfreeze the water pipe coming from the spring to the tank house. It has been frozen for a while now and I am only using the tank water for showers (few and far between) and cooking. I melt snow for everything else. Works out ok but I sure would love a nice hot soaking bath..lol. According to the weather chick on NBC, we have another 6 weeks of winter. But spring/summer here is well worth the months of cold weather. Believe you me. and the winter isn't that bad either.

These pics were taken this afternoon about 3 hours apart. Already have two inches on the railings and coming down heavy.





Well first off I have some pics of my granddaughter Peyton. (See slide show) She is now 6 lbs and was scheduled to have her first surgery today (3/20) which has been put off until 4/4. She had some feeding issues this past weekend and the doctors wanted to make sure she was completely over that before the surgery. Mom and daughter are now in Roanoke Va. Dad is still in Kansas going through the Army mustering out process. Hopefully he will be in Roanoke in time for the surgery. Peyton is absolutely beautiful and has a head of hair. After the surgery, I will be getting new pics so you can see the before and after.. Some of these pics are of her cleft lip/palate but just imagine her without it and you will see how beautiful she is.

Here is Peyton and dad, Rob.






We finally got Jeremiah out of here. He was supposed to leave March 4th but due to the Homer Harbor being frozen we couldn't get a boat over here. So he stayed an extra week. We had the chance to take another row over to the mail shack and we were followed by the harbor seal. His little head would pop up and he would watch us and then slide back down into the water. We happened to meet up with the mail man, Bryan ,who is also the winter keeper at Yukon Island. He tools around in a souped up Zodiac, which is a rubber boat. This one has a windshield and two chairs but is still a rubber boat..lol. We had a regular traffic jam at the mail shack. Bryan graciously offered to ferry Jeremiah over to Homer on his next run. He lands at the beach below Lands End Hotel. He has to stay with the boat while his friend goes into town and does a grocery and mail run. We took him up on his offer and Jere was off on his next Alaska adventure. Once they got near the beach they had to break up ice with a hammer and then wade through about 2 feet of surf and ice to get to the beach. But Jeremiah got there, unscathed. He still had two days before his flight left so he picked up my truck at the harbor master's. However when he got there it wouldn't start and he walked back to the hotel. Fortunately someone picked him up. He contacted Jon and Nelda and they came down the next day. Turns out good ole Jere forgot to push in the clutch when he tried to crank the truck...DUH!!. Jeremiah also got to watch the Beluga Lake Ice Races - old beat up cars slipping and sliding on a frozen lake bed.. Check out Jeremiah's slide show which includes pics taken of Mako's water taxi, the Blue Two, frozen to the pier. They were taken by Gart, one of the taxi captains!!!

Some of you received a pic of an eagle flying from the back porch of the lodge. The story behind that is this - Apparently the next door neighbors put scraps out during low tide. Two eagles were hanging around and eating something from the mud flat. So I put out some chicken giblets on the railing and waited. One had already come down and picked up a piece I had thrown in the air. So I waited...and waited...and waited...and of course when I went into the living room, it flew down. I saw it coming and rushed back into the dining room and snapped off that shot. It thumped the railing pretty good. Spike was all aflutter. the eagle!!!!





And then of course there is Spike - he started following Jeremiah and me around the lodge grounds. We took pics of course. I have gotten him down to the main deck and onto the dock. But he wouldn't go any further than the water line...silly cat. Check out Spike's new slide show..

Spike in my lap helping me surf the net..




Wildlife sightings - I haven't seen anything new but I do have a new track which I believe is wolverine. The pads are bigger than the coyotes, wider apart and there is a tail drag. Also had a Great Horned Owl in the trees outside the living room the other night. He was hooting up a storm. I have a Bird Guide DVD and was able to ID the owl by listening to the owls sounds. By the time I got some boots and a jacket on he had flown across the mudflat and was in the trees across the way. Wish I could have seen him. Spike better watch his back...

Great Horned Owl..I didn't take this..It is from my Birding DVD





And my great adventure this month is something that I am very very proud of. So bear with me. Due to the extreme cold weather in the last month and a long period of high winds, I have used more diesel than usual in keeping the lodge warm. By warm I mean between 68 and 70 which is pretty comfortable. But the high winds really suck the heat out of the place. I had put the last barrel into the tank on 2/22. The rest of the 55 gal drums were down at the boat house. Jeremiah and I tried to move one up to the wood shed but between the two of us we couldn't do it. and as it turns out even if we had been able to get it in the cart, the ATV would not have been able to pull it up the hill with the snow and ice layer. (but i didn't know that then). Just so you know a 55 gal drum of diesel weighs 412.5 lbs.

I was going to ask either Keith (next door neighbor) or Bryan for help. But Keith left and I really hate asking for help. Because what if there really wasn't anyone around? Which could happen. I need to figure it out on my own. So yesterday I got busy, since a storm front was coming into the area in the next day or so.

Plan A - partially fill up an empty barrel from a full one, put it in the cart and bring up via ATV. So far so good. I put around 25 gals in an empty, bungied it to the dolly and took it around to the front of the boat house. However it was still too heavy for me to handled. I had to man handle it into the cart and then would have to man handle it off the cart and into the wood shed. So I removed around 5 gallons or so. I put it in the cart (read tip over and heave it into the cart) and took off to the wood shed. Now this trek is down some decking, around the tank/pump house and up a hill and around a curve. I got halfway up the hill and the ATV wouldn't go any further. And of course when I tried to back it down I got the cart stuck in a snow bank. So here I am, path blocked, cart stuck and about 140 lbs of fuel in a barrel.

So, Plan A1 - remove the slide door on the cart, push the barrel out and let it slide back down the hill, push the cart down the hill and remove some diesel. But of course it wasn't that easy. The slide door on the cart would not come up on one side. So now I am tired from all the heaving, frustrated and almost convinced I was going to have to call in the calvery. So I took a break and ate lunch.

PLAN A2 - after eating and absolutely coming to the conclusion I was going to figure this out, I found a crowbar in the boat house and got the slide door off the cart. Viola the rest of Plan A1 worked. Woo Hoo..well almost. Just to test it, I took the ATV with the cart back up the hill without the drum and it would not go past the curve. Well drats. just too much ice and snow and the load was too high.

Well I am just not going to call anyone for help. Gotta figure this out.

So PLAN B - Bungie the drum onto the dolly, tie the dolly to the back of the ATV and off we go. Did it and.....didn't work. sigh. Not gonna call anyone...my mantra of the day.

PLAN C - try a lower center of gravity. I put the drum on an orange plastic toboggan that I use for everything else. Bungied that drum to the toboggan, put the tow rope attached to the front of the toboggan around the ball on the ATV and took the hell off. AND IT WORKED...WOO HOO!!

I got that drum up the hill, got it off the toboggan, wrestled it up the step into the woodshed and made short work of pumping it into the tank.

Damn I was proud of myself...lol. (and no injuries except for a few bruises here and here) A bloodless coup.

So today, I went back down and brought up a total of 55 gals in three trips. I used the cart to bring the drum to the hill and then transferred the drum to the toboggan and away we went.

Took about two hours but I have diesel. And got it all done before the snow hit.

See Jeremiah's slide show for pics of the path from the boat house to the woodshed. When Keith and Randy return, I will get them to take a pic of me with the toboggan, ATV and cart...lol.

I find it pretty amazing the things I can do with no problem that I couldn't do without difficulty at the beginning of the winter. and it isn't like I am doing hard labor everyday. I don't. But I could barely move a full barrel of diesel fuel across the floor, rowing across the bay resulted in a few days of a sore back, and turning the boat over was an ordeal not to mention dragging it above the water line. I can climb over the railings to get under the buildings with no problem and get back up...which was a huge issue at first. Now I certainly couldn't go out and do hard physical labor by any means but I can do what needs to be done. Pretty damn cool if you ask me!!!

So what do I do all day when not heaving diesel around and doing the few lodge duties I have? I am online, online, online..I am a POGO.com fanatic and play online games a lot everyday. I read the news online, I talk to people, watch TV, listen to Opera and Classical on Sirius, read, take hikes, beach comb, bird watch, and of course play more POGO. Sometimes I just watch the mountains or on days like today, just watch it snow.

What a life, eh?

and here is something else really cool...a friend from high school found me online through classmates.com and we have been talking and catching up. AND I found a long lost cousin in CA. She teaches college in CA and of all things is involved in Lego Robotics. Pretty cool actually. Check out the ...http://www.collegeteacher.org/robotics/

She also had a bunch of pics of her dads, my uncle, she had scanned in. I found one from 1968 of both my brother and me. Both brothers are younger than me, but Chris is the oldest one in the pic and the baby is Richard. He was born in 1968 so this was taken late that year I imagine. No idea where though. Probably Erie on a visit.




Well that is it for now. Check out the two new slide shows. Everyone take care!!

Oh completely forgot about the Iditarod. Man I am hooked....I plan on volunteering next year, hopefully for all three weeks. Should be a blast!! It was pretty amazing. Check out www.iditarod.com

Month Long Catch Up

Wow how time flies when you are having fun. Can't believe it has been more than a month since I blogged. (check out the new slide show!!)

I am a new grandmother. Peyton Nicole Ezra White was born on Feb 16th. She weighted 5 lbs 5oz and was 18" long. Mom and baby are doing great. Peyton was born with a cleft palate/lip but is fine otherwise. Fortunately she was born near a children's hospital with a craniofacial team. She is supposed to be released from the hospital on Feb 25th and treatment will begin. My daughter, son in law and granddaughter are moving to Roanoke VA where Peyton will be treated by an outstanding craniofacial team there. This team is the one you hear about in the news treating babies and children from all over the world with craniofacial anomilies. According to preliminary information, Peyton will have her first operation to repair her lip AND palate in the next four weeks. This is a huge advance over previous treatments. If all goes well, it will be several years before she will need any other procedures. I don't have any pics yet but I will post some as soon as I get them.

If you would like to know more about craniofacial anomilies and the national organization check out www.ccakids.org.

My friend Jeremiah arrived here on Feb 6th, just in time for my birthday and his. I came over to Homer for the first time since Nov. My truck cranked right up, I got off the spit and.....it quit. $235 and a day later it was fixed. Bad ignition coil. BUT in the meantime...the automotive place was kind enough to take me where I was staying for the night. However I forgot they didn't have a landline and I don't have a cell. So I had no way of getting in touch with Jeremiah to let him know he needed to get a cab when he arrived later that evening. I did have my computer with me but wouldn't you know it not one single person on two different buddy lists were online. I took a quick walk around the neighborhood but no one was home. My friends live out of town and it would have been a long cold walk into Homer just to find a phone. Finally someone came on line and he was kind enough to text message Jeremiah. I also figured out how to send a text message from AOL to a cell phone. I sent several to Jeremiah and also got in touch with my ex husband who called him and left a message. Jeremiah got them all, rented a car and managed to find the house in the dark...WOOHOO first adventure down.

I crocheted a muffler for Jeremiah ( yes I really crochet and do needlework too). Looks really good on him. He got me some socks, a polar suit, and a BOB. If you want to know what a BOB is, just ask....lol.

The next day we picked up my truck, returned the rental, grabbed some snacks and settled in for the afternoon. We were supposed to meet Jon and Nelda for dinner but managed to get stuck in the driveway...ai carumba...So no dinner, but I now had access to a phone, but didn't have Jon and Nelda's cell number and they were already gone..


Eric helped us get out the next day. and oh yeah I finally got my truck registered and have Alaska tags but I failed the driver's test. Oh well. I will take it next time I am in town. It was pretty funny actually.

We came back over to the lodge on Feb 8th, in a heavy fog and choppy seas. The fog finally cleared up after a few days and it has been sunny every since. We had a few flurries but no real snow at all. The last week we have had another cold snap and it hasn't been above 25 at the lodge. Today it never reached 20. But very bright outside and not too bad when the wind isn't blowing.

We have been rowing several times and went way back into Little Tutka Bay and actually rowed through light ice. Our neighbor Keith was out in his canoe doing the same thing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I took Jeremiah to the mail shack and I took a short hike up the path behind it where I found a chicken coop, an outhouse, and lots of junk.

While Jeremiah has been here, everything that could go wrong has. First, we ran totally out of water and had to melt snow and boil water for a couple of days. Water had not been running from the spring to the tank room for a while but it wasn't a big issue as I had plenty of water. We washed all of the linens and bed clothes from the cabins and used up all of the water. Finally it was warm enough for a couple of days to thaw out the section of pipe from the spring house.


Then, we lost electricity for over a day when a piece of line from the transformer went bad. There was a loud pop around 10 pm and we were plunged into darkness....until I connected the transformers and turned stuff back on. Jeremiah got to see how that was done and the next day Homer Electric sent out a helicopter and crew to fix it. We had electricity on by that afternoon.






And then today, the 24th, the septic tank alarm went off. The heat lamp blew at some point either last night or early this morning. The alarm started going off around noon. And what does this mean you might ask? Well can you say outhouse? Fortunately we took showers this morning before the alarm went off. I put another light in the heat box but it will take time for it to unfreeze. Hopefully by in the morning. In the meantime no water can go down the drains. So a trek to the outhouse is in our futures. And finally to cap it off, the light under the house blew around 11:30 pm so I was taking care of that..

The only thing that hasn't gone out is the propane for the stove....lol. Jeremiah has gotten the whole gamit this month. Except for snow fall. He has enjoyed himself, has gone on a few walks with me, fed the eagles, been rowing, seen lots of new birds and wildlife and generally had a good time. He even drove the ATV and used the snow blower.

Wildlife Report - I finally saw the coyote. I had seen lots of track and scat activity but no live animal. Finally saw him a week ago. So he does exist. I have seen lots of other animal tracks but no animals. I don't get up early enough I guess. Rabbit, Ermine, Cat, Moose, and other small critters.

We saw a school of harbor porpoises in Little Tutka while we were rowing. Now that was pretty damn awesome. We (read I), literally rowed over them and they all surfaced behind us. Needless to say we sat and watched them for a while until they left the bay. Unfortunately we didn't get any good shots but maybe next time.

The sharp shinned hawk slammed into the kitchen window. He flew off after we went out to see what happened but I haven't seen him since, so he may have bit the big one.

A white winged cross beak hit the window upstairs which woke me up. These window go the entire side of the upstairs overlooking Little Tutka Bay and there is a slanted roof on the first floor which is over the living room. The bird was alive but just out of my reach even with a broom. I got Jeremiah up so he could stand at the window while I went outside and climbed up on something to rescue the bird. However, Jeremiah was still in a daze similar to the poor cross beak's and he let a magpie snatch up breakfast. So much for that little birdie but I got to add a new one to my life list.

I didn't take this pic of the hawk but here is one so you know what it looks like. Same with the crossbeak.




I fixed a whole salmon which was stuffed with bacon and onions and then baked. It was fantabulous.








We cut up another pink salmon I had in the freezer and took it to the dock for the Eagles. We didn't catch any pics of them swooping down but I did get some good ones of them in the tree. I was only about 20 feet away when I took these pics. and of course under the tree...lol

Spike has been having a blast outside. He has started following me around all over the grounds. Haven't gotten him out to the dock yet but that is probably a good thing. He would make a good dinner for a hungry eagle. At least around the house and cabins Spike has lots of hiding spaces in case he is swooped upon.

We woke up to ice in the cove the other day. Nelda said she had never seen ice in the cove, ever. Pretty cool.

We are going back to Homer Feb 28th and Jeremiah leaves on the first. This all depends, of course, if the weather and taxi service cooperate. I might even try to get my drivers license again...lol

I have lots and lots of news items to talk about and other little tidbits and will try to get to that this week. It isn't like I don't have the time....Been busy playing on POGO and getting my badges. I will have to let you all know about my online gaming addiction.

Till later - don't forget to check out the new slide show and the craniofacial organization!!

Back on Line Woo Hoo

Well finally, I am back on line. The internet was out for three weeks. Due to weather conditions and the "ice free" harbor in Homer icing up, they couldn't send a boat over. Talk about serious withdrawals....lol. Thanks to everyone that sent emails asking what was up... and a special thanks to Gordon. He used to live in AK and was worried after not seeing me. He called the Soldotna Highway Patrol and they checked on me. I appreciate the concern.

Check out the new slide show!! Pics from the last three weeks.

So let's see. what adventures have I had? I had a great trip over to the mail shack on Xmas day. The weather was perfect. Had several boxes and lots of mail. One box was for Spike - a scratching post, catnip, and a comb. He was in cat heaven. Here is a pic of one of his favorite indoor hang outs.











Boy talk about a change in weather. The wind started whipping through here Monday night 12/25. By the morning, it was snowing so hard, you couldn’t see anything. Stayed this way all day. Probably dropped 6 inches. Then by late afternoon the temp went up and everything started melting. Snow was thumping off the roof. Really neat the way it curves off the roof before falling. Wind died down. Around 10:30, after I got off the phone with Jeremiah, I started hearing a beep like a travel alarm beep. The temp alarm for the heat box under the house was going off. It was down to 39. Bulb was out.

This heat lamp keeps the incoming water from freezing up. I have to climb over a railing, drop down about 6 feet and crawl under the house. Of course there weren't any heat lamps up here so I had to go down to the laundry room to get one. Picked up a 250 watt (the only ones down there), came back up, managed to get under the house without killing myself and discovered I needed a screwdriver to get into the lamp housing. (Jon, that little tidbit needs to be added to the caretaker instruction manual!!). Went back and got a screwdriver, changed the bulb. When I checked the thermometer in the house it had shot up to over 100 degrees. Far to0 hot. So back to the laundry room, grabbed some 100 watt regular light bulbs, another 6 foot drop and crawl under the house. Lots of fun in seriously high winds and of course 11 at night and dealing with about 18" of virgin snow. At least it would cushion me if I fell.

Now understand there isn't any ladder or anything and I am 5'3. Once down, decking is about chest high for me. I had to haul myself up and heave myself over..Only got a couple of bruises.

While I was out the weather changed again and it started to thunder and lightning. No rain but the temp started rising.

(Found out why Spike loves it under the house - it is all dirt and is a perfect private litter box...lol.)

A warm front came through and lingered for three or four days. Everything was melting and falling off the roofs. Had a lot of paths to unblock. Spent a lot of time on the dock shoveling snow pack. hard work but at least I am developing some muscle and losing the flab. The days were beautiful and sunny. By warm I mean around 40 degrees..lol. Actually feels warmer around 32. It becomes a damp cold at 40.

So what did I do with my time without the internet you may ask? Especially since I spend a LOT of time online...I started working on the projects I brought over. Embroidery, Jeremiah's bday gift, reading, played some gamecube, lots of work outdoors. Did some snowshoeing, cleaned the skis, watched way too much TV.

I just finished the John Sandford Prey series and ordered the four I didn't have (did that after I got back on line). They should be here in a week or so. Also finished the James Patterson/Alex Cross books. I just started the Kathy Riechs/Temperance Brennen books. These are the books that the Fox series Bones is based on. They are pretty good but the character on TV is vastly different than the books so if you read them and watch the series expect differences.

Had some new birds show up - A flock of Red Polls with some Pine Siskins. They stayed for a few days. Huge flock of at least 50 birds. A flock of white winged Scoters are hanging around the cover.

By 12/29, we had high winds and it was snowing pretty heavy again. Got about 7 inches overnight.

Baked some bread. Used the bread machine here for some of it but it didn't really rise like it should so went back to the over bread. Turned out wonderfully. I added Parmesan, garlic and rosemary. Smelled great.










1/3 - I got about 10 inches of snow here and according to the weather report, it was a blizzard. I would believe that - very high winds and no visibility. This is the back of the Crows Nest Cabin. Tutka Bay is in the background.












1/4 One of the baby otters stayed on the dock most of the day. He is getting very big and I think Mom is tired of carrying him. She kept bringing him food and occasionally would get up with him. I also saw a new baby this week. Once in the cove behind the lodge and then on the dock. Mom picked him up by the scruff and dove in the water when she saw me coming down the dock.

Leif, the internet guy, is supposed to come out on the 9th, weather permitting. He is also bringing my groceries when he comes. This isn't going to happen. The weather dips down to zero and below in Homer and boats can't get out of the harbor. Was in the teens over here. not much snow though. After about three or four days of really really cold weather the water froze up coming into the house. EEK!!! Talked to Jon and started a heater in the pump room. After a couple of hours water started. Yeah!!!.If it had been one of the underground pipes, I would have had to haul water up here until the pipes unfroze. I had already brought some up just in case.

1/14 - had an earthquake!!!! There was an 8.2 in the Korel Islands around 7:30 PM. I was on the phone with Jeremiah and a bunch of roof snow fell off. The whole lodge house shook pretty hard. I didn't realize it was an earthquake until the weather alarm went off. We were under a Tsunami watch for a couple of hours. If you don't know where the Korel Islands are, get a map and look above the last island of Japan. They are part of Russia.

We had a good amount of rain this week as well. Melted a lot of the snow pac. Make it easier to shovel off the dock.

1/18 - WOO HOO - Leif and Eric made it over. Internet is fixed and groceries delivered. I had plenty of food. Just nothing fresh. Eric checked out the dock. It has two broken hinges. He is not sure when he will be able to get back out to fix it.

Started snowing a couple of days ago. Pretty heavy. I measured 18 inches two days ago on top of what was already here. I keep part of the deck railing clear so I can measure. It is snowing pretty heavy right now. It was a sunny beautiful day this morning but now it is gray. Spike is outside. He totally loves it out there. He doesn't care if it is raining, snowy,windy, cold as hell. He is kind of like the post office motto..lol.

I saw 7, yes 7, blue herons perched on a rock ledge behind the lodge. Wish I could have taken a pick to share but my digital is too small. Oh how I wish I had the new Nikon D80 or D70 with an AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED II. SWEET!!