The next 15 minutes

I have talked a few times about "How much is fifteen minutes?", and how by using ALL of your fifteen minute time periods you can get a lot done!  Read the original post here.

I haven't quite finished the other fifteen minute project, but am still working on it.  I have it all cut out now via my fifteen minute sections and a family quilt retreat as well.

In between those events, I had a number of projects that were scrappy in nature (you will see some of them shortly) and so I began another fifteen minute project to go with them.  Scrappy Bow ties!

This pattern can be made with as little as an 8" square of fabric!  It takes just two squares of 3&1/2" and two squares of 2&1/2"  of colored fabric and two 3&1/2" squares of light/white fabric.  Sew one of the smaller colors to the corner of the light (square it to the edge of the corner and sew across the diagonal), trim off the excess and press open.  Square that to 3&1/2" and then sew it to one of the larger color squares.  Then sew the two sections together to form the finished block.  Make sure you set them down together so you get the centers lined up in the right direction.  I have had to "unsew" a number of these for trying to stack and hurry!  It doesn't pay!

So as I went through the scrappy projects, I also cut the squares for the bow tie blocks.  This particular pattern makes a 6" square.  

I have them stored next to the sewing machine in a box that I got from the school - the student ID's came in it.  Colors in the back and lights in the front.  Mostly because I will run short of the lights long before I run short of the colors, so then I know when I need to dig up some more lights for the project.  You can see to the left of the box the finished 6" bow tie blocks stack.  

These ones are all blue but I have tons of different colors, and it gives you an idea of how they can be put together to make alternate patterns above and below.

It goes together really fast - just about 15 minutes for four of the blocks - after cut out has been done ahead of time. 

Here is another colorway that I am working on to have a "backup quilt" at the ready when I need one - or someone else needs one!

 Sew simple and a great, easy use of  those scraps and that fifteen minutes that you might have thought was useless!

That Wicked Alaska Earthquake!

Oh we have had a crazy week here in Alaska!  We had a Wicked big earthquake - 7.0 on the Richter scale and lasting about a minute.  Thank goodness it was only a minute because it completely took out one of our schools - Houston Middle School which is just across the campus from Houston High School where I work as the Secretary!  School was in session then and it was a heck of a ride, glass shattering all over the place in the pitch black (our auxiliary power didn't come on until after the shaking stopped), and people crying and some freaking out! Here is one of our roadways:

(above Photo by Ivan Fonova)

Here is an aerial view of that same road.  This road is right next to my aunts house on my Grandfathers old homestead.  It used to be a lake!  (and by the way the road is fixed now already - one week later!)  It s temporary fix until the summer construction season but  - road open and usable! 

 Hubby called me right after the quake happened to check on me, and Reedo stopped in when his work sent them home to check on their people!  Great employers - Arctic Insulation. Here is what my office looked like at the High School:

The High School was closed for a week and our Middle School will not reopen at all!  We ended up with all of the Middle Schoolers at the High School and we got 700+ kids home safe and sound by 1:30 in the afternoon.  Our staff was awesome!

But my school office didn't even come close to the home office (or the rest of the High School building for that matter)!

Not sure it is fixable - I don't think so but my dad will take a look at it and be the professional judge of repair ability!  

This big wooden 4-drawer filing cabinet weighs about 200 pounds and fell over forward somehow!  Underneath it were 4 bottles of wine, a bottle of balsamic vinegar, 3 jars of jelly, a jar of applesauce, and a keepsake glass bottle of glacier water!  

You know those tax files you are supposed to keep for 7 years?  Yeah, we have some that are no longer keepers!  We found a new glue formula though - wine, balsamic, applesauce jelly will stick just about anything together!  No matter how many times you mop or wipe - there is not enough soap and water to unstick that stuff!

And of course we lost the main TV -luckily we had a few more throughout the house - namely Reeds gaming TV so we are back in TV business!  The hockey puck in the middle of the TV is one of the memorial pucks from Rye's memorial service.  His urn fell as well but luckily was unharmed!  I checked and Hubby said "Yes - it fell - Yes - It's fine!  We did lose a few Rye memorial items that can't be fixed but we didn't lose any memories!

And here is the sewing/laundry room, where one of my book cases collapsed in a heap and was not fixable!  The iron also took a hit - It appeared fine at first but when I went to use it, turned my back for just a second, and the smoke/fire alarm went off - the iron was on fire - the whole guts of it!  

(you'll learn about that rooster right there in a later blog - stay tuned)

I ran it outside and had to fill the gap (you can see the gap below - which is NOT supposed to be there) - had to fill the gap with snow to get it to go out!  The whole house smelled like burnt electrical for a few hours - seems to be gone now!

Luckily I have an old heavy duty backup iron - it's not auto shut off but it works really well - I just have to remember to shut it off and unplug it!

We were really lucky though - our house had no structural damage and all of our people are safe and sound!  My cousins house - about a mile away - was trashed!  Her direct next door neighbors house has been condemned!  Super sad!

Our Big Lake Lions Rec Center (our ice arena) didn't fare so well!  Although the ice sheet itself needed just a little fixing up and debris removal, we sustained about $75,000.00 of damage to the arena building.  We had to cancel our High School annual hockey tournament, The Big Lake Lions Classic, which we have held without fail since the building was built!  The building was built with no government funds!  Donations, fundraises, grants, and in kind!  Truly a Community Center!

Damaged, leaking sprinkler tank - 17,500 gallon capacity tank shifted by the quake and leaking, with damaged pipes!

A little shot to give you perspective on the size of this tank.

My friend Tyra vacuuming up some of the debris - she really isn't directly under that hanging ceiling tile even though it looks it!  Almost the whole of the lattice framework for the ceiling tiles was twisted or destroyed.

Our hot water and pressure tanks, leaking and with plumbing damage.

We have a GoFundMe site set up to help with the repairs costs and you can also see more pictures and get more information at this site.   Give us a little gift for repairs if you can!

In all of this, there were no lives lost!  Very few injuries, and those mostly were not serious!  Our power was out for less than 10 hours!  We have had the coming together of our communities and neighborhoods.  Each neighbor asking the other how they were and if they needed help - helping each other to get through this, and to weather the weather (we have had rain, snow and high - I mean high- wind) in addition to the aftershocks (we are at 3000+ aftershocks now!  This morning it was a 5.0 that jolted me and the dogs out of our relaxed pre cookie making haze!  Cooking still relaxes and soothes me and I made three kinds of cookie today!  Christmas on!

I hope that if your earth shakes and quakes, that you can rely on your neighbors, family and friends, and that if the wind should blow let it be a soft warm one!  Blessed be!

A Final Random Act of Kindness

As the holidays approach (Thanksgiving is passed now) there has been a lot of talk about "Random Acts of Kindness" online and in the news, and I have been thinking about that a lot.  The holidays are really, really hard here at our house and I have to really try hard to see the beauty and the good of the season when I am really feeling the  missing members of our family now.

There are all types of random acts of kindness.  Carrying groceries, shoveling snow, paying it forward for someone in a line behind you,  or paying it forward literally to someone in line ahead of you who cant pay for all of their groceries!   

Rye was an organ donor.  Today because of him two people have sight.  Because of the way in which he passed (unknown cause of death/unsure diagnosis) they were unable to use his other organs, but today, two people have the literal gift of sight.  I recently discovered that a friend of mine is a surgeon who does the "harvesting" of the corneal and eye tissue from donors when they pass.  I probably knew that before Rye passed but the grief fog makes you forget tons of things that should be remembered.  I am blessed to know that her hands were chosen for fulfilling this amazing gift.  The last "random act of kindness" that you or your loved one can bestow upon people in the world who are sometimes literally in the fight for their lives!

Photo credit - Chugach Peaks Photography - Those beautiful eyes.

I sometimes wonder if I will ever meet either of the people who have Rye's eyes now?  Will I recognize him in them?  Will they know how much we all gave for their sight?  Probably not, but I know a loss mother who got to meet the person who got her sons heart when he passed.  She got to hear her sons heart beat again.  I will be happy with a secret wink!

In 2018, more than 450 relatives of organ donors declined permission to donate because they were unsure of their relatives wishes to donate!  I know why - it isnt because we are unsure of their wishes do donate - I knew Rye wanted to be an organ donor the same as I knew he wanted to be cremated, but it is an excruciating decision!   We had to make the decision quickly (within 24 hours - maybe shorter) so as not to "lose the viability of the tissue".  I remember being on the phone with the organ donation group and hesitating - even though I knew that he wanted to be a donor - my mothers brain and my mother heart were both certain that this was all just a terrible nightmare and that I would wake up to Rye doing "Stewie"  - "Mom! Mom! Mom! MAAMM! Mommy! Mommy!" (He always thought that was hilarious), and of course the still rational part of my screaming brain knew would never happen.  

It took every ounce of energy that I had to say "Yes - do it!" to that lady and to have my friend help me to receive the fax papers and send them back to them with the signatures on them saying "Yes - do it"! and when it was over I went into the house and I laid on the couch in "my spot" and I howled and cried and the tears would not stop and I didn't want them to.  I wanted them to make me liquid so that I could flow away and go wherever my child went.  That dreamland where maybe there really is no pain and no suffering, because it certainly wasn't here.

I wasn't sad about the decision to donate - I knew that was a good thing and there was relief in the saying Yes to that, but it made it that much more real and final for us.  The final Random Act of Kindness from my son that broke this mothers heart, but gave two people sight.  Be a donor.  Be blessed.

The Kingdom for some shoes! #ak2uganda

My sister recently made a post about having a hard time finding basketball shoes for their fast growing middle school daughter - even in Anchorage Alaska which is a hub of commerce for Alaska!  It is 70 miles away and about two hours drive from Big Lake.  Here is what she said in response to an article about Nike air swoopes and the disappearance of womens signature shoes:

My husband and I went shopping for girls basketball shoes for our daughter this fall and could not find one pair in all of Anchorage! "You can order them" the Footlocker guy said. She's grown over 4 inches in height since January, we'd really like to have her try them on. "You'll have to fly to Seattle" he laughed. This, plus the comments on this article makes me sad. Why do the women's teams get compared to the men's and critically devalued? (See comments on the original thread). As a society, we need to support women athletes: buy tickets to games, jerseys, channels,advertising, and start "shopping the swag" meaning SHOES AND GEAR to represent for female athletes and teams, and have ergonomically female gear available for our daughters. We know how to shop, right?? Dammit.

Read the article here.   C'mon shoe stores - get some GIRL Gear!

This is not her first go-around with trying to find gear for a basketball player.  One of the girls who played at Houston High is now in Germany playing Womens Pro Basketball.  All of her supporters had to work really hard to be able to get her to be able to play high school ball much less on to college and have gear (including shoes) that would work and keep her body healthy.  If your shoes dont fit, it hurts and it hurts you!  How is this even a thing in America?

(Cant find a photo credit for this one, click the photo for more of Dajonee's story.  She can always use our support as well).
Congratulations to a successful start to DaJonee Hale’s professional career in Germany. The Former NAIA star has averaged 23 pts, 7 reb, and 3 ast through her first 3 games. Hale played at the Women’s Final 4 Eurobasket Camp in Columbus this year.

So we all know that I am a hockey mom and that other sports seem foreign and weird to me - except that I DID play basketball in High School and earlier, and my dad was a basketball coach!  So I DO know a little about that one -(Im only 5'2" - so - seriously)!  It's been a while, and a few of the rules have changed but its still the same basic game when I go to watch their daughter play.

I went and watched my niece play recently and saw teams from way up the road North of us - about another 100 miles past us and I wondered at why some of the girls had shoes on that would not be considered appropriate for basketball on a regular court.  My Brother in Law said "Because they have to drive 4 hours to not be able to buy shoes for their girls, so they wear what they have"!  Yikes!  What??

So that discussion yesterday online made me remember a facebook  post by Riley about bringing in shoes to the school for some kind of fundraiser or donation and I asked her for the information.  So began an amazing story of an 11ish year old girl who used her Disneyland money to fund an awesome basketball camp in Uganda!  Yes - I said Uganda and she used her Disneyland money!  I am always so amazed by people and their capacity to give and give to help others and to spread joy.  This project not only gets shoes to those who need them but also spreads joy! And her mother has 4 - yes 4 kids!  Making it happen!

I asked her mom to give me some more information about the trip and here is what she said:
Wow! Thank you so much! This idea came from my daughter who is now 11. She had it on her heart to go on a mission trip and “help change the world before she turned 13.” She turned her Disney World savings into her mission trip savings two years ago. We have the most generous, smart, kind friends who love God and love people with every part of their day, named Ricky and Becca Waitman. They started PUR International, which a nonprofit that focuses on James 1:27 saying that true and proper religion focuses on helping orphans and widows. They run the mission with Andrew and Heidi Kangay, who have been living in Uganda for the past year with their three kids. When Ricky and Becca heard that Hallie wanted to go on a mission trip, they were excited to tailor a trip to her and their four kids and their two nieces and nephew as we all learn more about what it is to shine the light of Jesus in our daily lives and have the opportunity to go to Uganda to share with them and learn from them. Hallie loves basketball and wanted to do something with basketball over there, but we did not think it was an option since basketball is not popular in Uganda. In June, Andrew asked if we would want to help run a three day camp for 60 kids from around Uganda and pair basketball skills with health and spiritual outreach. God is a God of details and how awesome to pair Hallie love of God with a sport she enjoys. She came up with the name of the camp “All for His Glory” with my chicken scratch of a design and asked my lifelong friend who is an extremely talented artist and designer to see what she could do with it. She created an awesome design that will go on each orange and white reversible jersey for each camper.

We attend Trailhead Wesleyan Church and the children’s ministry team is purchasing over 60 pounds of groceries for $30 (bought in Uganda). These groceries will help a family of five for a month. Hallie and I will get the chance to help PUR International deliver these care packages when we arrive in Uganda. We are so excited for this life changing adventure.


(Click on the photo to link to the donation site for this part of the project).

The design was so cool that many of our friends and family wanted a T-shirt, which has helped us raise funds for getting each child to the three day camp in which they will get three meals a day, clean water, a safe place to sleep , a cool jersey, and basketball. We also are collecting gently used shoes to hand out. It is so awesome to see that outpouring of support from so many kids here in Alaska were so willing to handover their basketball shoes or families that are buying T-shirts to help with this amazing adventure. We are seeing God move both in our small community and in all these excited kids who are looking forward to attending the basketball camp. God is so good!!

People are good too!  "Change the world before she is 13"?  I could hardly believe it when I read it but that is what she said.  I can't remember what I was thinking at age 11 except to worry about whose rabbit ate my avocado tree!  Yes- that was a thing at our house!  I certainly wasn't trying to change the world!  I am now but a bit late to the show apparently!

There are still some shirts available from the link as well - they are a great way to give some and get some too!  Designed by an 11 year old trying to change the world!!!  How can you lose?



(Click on the photo above for  more information on PUR International and to donate or share the donation page for the travel and basketball camp portion of this project).

No matter where you live, or where you don't, I hope you have shoes that fit, a smile on your face, and a reason to try to change the world!  Blessed be!

PS - use the #ak2uganda when you post about this and we can see how far we are spreading the joy!

Hoodoo Voodoo! A Fishing Adventure off the Farm!

One day a little hockey player woke up and said "I wanna go fishing!"  Seriously though both my boys have always loved fishing - not just liked it - LOVED fishing! As much or more than hockey even.  Reed has fished in the summer, winter, fall and spring.  He has tied flies, made spoons, and I have had a house full of fishing gear to go with the hockey and hunting gear for years and years. You get used to it and just work around it and - yes, once in a while throw a fit and demand one of the chairs in the living room be kept free of hunting, hockey and fishing gear!  Im sure Im not the only mom who has had this problem.  Pretty sure Colton Conners mom had the same problem too - at least!  Colton Conner is the owner of Drifterz Paradise Fishing Charters and he gave Reed his start in the fishing guiding arena.

Reed got his Merchant Mariners certificate at age 16  - it was a fun adventure because the Homeland security people thought I was trying to enlist my son in the Coast Guard underage!  Once we explained that he just wanted to fish they warmed up to us a little.

Inflatable "glass bottom" canoe and a great lake trout.

It really is a pretty long process to get those credentials and to do all the paperwork and classes to become a registered licensed guide in the State of Alaska - especially since he was not old enough to sign "grown up" paperwork at the time.

Fishing in Alaska is a treasure and a treat!  There is so much fishing to be had all over the place!  Multiple types of salmon, lots of trout, grayling, char, pike, to name a few and these are just some of the fresh water fish!  The oceans yield a plethora of fish as well.

Creek fishing with Uncle Adam - Not sure who the guide is in this shot since Uncle appears to be doing the work!

Yes!  Riley fishes as well. She is Reeds girlfriend and a good sport about fishing no matter what the weather.  I think she secretly loves fishing as much as he does!

Even in the rain!

Drifterz Paradise boat behind Reeds truck.

Fish on!

So this year has not been a great fishing year in the Mat Su Valley.  The King Salmon season was closed so Reed didn't have work for that month starting his season off.  Fortunately, he was busy with try outs for hockey that kept him busy, and his boss Colton Conner went out to guide at a place called "Hoodoo River Lodge".  Colton Conner is also a teacher at the high school so in the fall when Hoodoo called him back to guide for the final part of the season, he wasn't able to commit to that.  Instead he said "I got a guy"!  So Reed went off on a fishing adventure this time!

I always take a picture of Reedo before he begins each adventure.  He isn't a fan always of the picture taking, but he humors me for the sake of his own sanity (basically so I don't drive him crazy)!

Hoodoo is in the Bristol Bay Region of Alaska.  Remote and Beautiful.  Off the grid as well!  

Its fly in only there but surrounded by beauty and of course fish!  Hoodoo boasts 5 variety of salmon, as well as grayling, char, pike and trout.    Reed got to take some very famous people fishing (think Iron Chef), as well as some really nice regular people and caught fish left and right!

This little Mink wanted to hitch a ride with the fishing guides too.  Wildlife abounds at Hoodoo.  Reed had many bear encounters as well.  "No Mom!  I did NOT take pictures!  I was too busy making sure my client was safe!"  Yes!  I did ask!  My bad!

The "Braids" portion of the river with mountains in the background.  Unending beauty.

The Hoodoo is off grid enough that there isn't really any cell service and internet only works late at night (like 2:00 am).  Lights and other services are solar and generator driven so care is taken to not overuse resources.  He was only able to call or send pictures occasionally, and of course, didn't take any of himself.  The point here though is, with no internet or wifi, the only entertainment besides fish guide jokes are DVD movies and tying up new gear (fly tying)!

This is his "at home" fly tying gear and below his table set up.  The fish on the Hoodoo tear up the gear something fierce and the guides have to tie new or replace gear all the time.  Reed spends hours working to rebuild his inventory.

Below is a little something Reed called the "Pikeslayer" back in the day!

He replenished his stock after he got home at a shop called "Mossy's Fly Shop".   It's a really cool little store in Anchorage Alaska and has everything a fly fisher could dream up, including an owner who knows all the hot spots for fishing and what everyone is catching! 

Mom - STOP taking pictures of me shopping!  It's ridiculous!

So I just moved back a little so you could get the full effect of shopping in this great store!  I even found some really cool stuff in there.  You could embellish a lot of fun things with stuff in Mossy's!  Reed says it's not intended for "bedazzeling" things(teenage eye roll here), but I think I could really do some cools stuff with someone I know's coffee cup!  Oh wait!  The kids do that! Story for another blog.

The other thing that fishing guiding creates is lots of laundry!  I know I harp on the laundry all the time - but Reed actually did his own!

OMG - why is there so much laundry?  Because it's three weeks worth that you are trying to do in one load!  I did have to do some load ratio coaching here but he did the hardest part and didn't even make me fold!

We are still hearing things about his great adventure to the Hoodoo!

I am so happy that he had the courage to say "YES"!  Yes to the adventure.  Yes to going to a new place he's never been before.  Yes to working for people he has never even met before, and YES to all the goofy pictures mom wants to take!

I hope you have a grand adventure in your future and that you take lots of pictures!

Stay tuned for the next one!  Blessed be!

A bevy of bright beauties - tomatoes that is!

Oh how we love tomatoes here at the Farm!  We grow as many as we can fit into the greenhouse, and sometimes outside too!  You read last week about my Aunties greenhouse and the 37 tomato plants that I brought home from her house (see that post here).  I also planted a few varieties of my own as well, but this week we will talk about the ones we loved and maybe the ones that didn't work so well!

This is the cheery cherry variety "Cherry Punch".  It grows quarter sized tomatoes like giant grapes on vines and the flavor is amazing! 

Strings and strings of them!  Very few of them make it out of the greenhouse (I have a "one for the bucket, one for me rule")!

Here is a partially ripe string of "Cherry Punch".  They go all the way up the plant that way and they are on an indeterminate plant so it gets quite tall!  The finished tomato is a deep red like cherry Koolaid. The "Cherry Punch" grow sort of on top of the string - rather than below it.  The plants are strong and I don''t usually need to support the tomato stems at all.  This is the second year we have grown this variety from Auntie and it is a keeper.  We will grow this again.

 

Above variety is the "Sun Gold" cherry tomato,  I have previewed them before on here (read about it here) and this is a huge favorite of all of ours.  I have grown this variety for about 5 years now and they seem to do well indoors or out.  They end up being a golden orange color when ripe, they grow like grapes on the vines, almost the same size as grapes,  and the only drawback is that they will split if you let them hang too long.  This is a keeper as well and will be grown forever as far as I'm concerned!

This is the "Parks Whopper" started at Snowfire Gardens and it is a great tomato.  The flavor is very good, and it is a beautiful color ad gets good sized - probably 8 ounces.  It is more of a bush tomato - doesn't get too tall and spindly.  Texture is great for the BLT sandwich and for a slicer or salad dice.  Only one drawback is that it doesnt produce very many tomatoes.  We got maybe 6 off of this plant all summer.  I would probably grow this one again if it was given to me.  Flavor is key here.

Above is a shot of "San Marzano" a paste or sauce tomato.  Yum-o!  I would grow this again every year as well.    It produces a plethora of lovely pear shaped tomatoes all up and down the bushy plant.  The texture is a little bit pithy for an every day eating tomato but for sauce it is bomb.  This one came from Aunties as well.  We actually grew two sauce tomatoes from her - "Bella Rosa" and this one.  "Bella Rosa" is a good one as well and it works for an every day eater as well as sauce.  It doesn't produce as prolifically as "San Marzano" but its uses are a little broader.  I didn't get a picture of that one - sorry! 

We also grew "Better Bush" which is a good hanging basket tomato and is a keeper - good flavor and a decent slicer with good texture.  

Early Girl is also a favorite here - it lives up to its name - comes on early in the season and produces right through fall.  Good slicer, with great texture and flavor.

I started Cherokee Purple and Black Krim - both are old varieties and we like them a lot.  I will grow them again even though they arent very prolific producers, the color, flavor and texture more than make up for the lack of production, and I think if I had got them started earlier (I didn't get mie planted until end of April) we would have got more 'maters!  Great slicers both as well.

Those are all of the ones that are really notable from the varieties that we grew this summer.  We had a big huge greenhouse full andit was wonderful.  Really fun to see all the varieties and try the new ones.  I encourage you to try as many as you can!

Tub of bright beauties of all varieties!

Fresh Roasted Pasta Sauce

3-4 pounds of ripe tomatoes diced into about 1" cubes- any variety ( I like to mix them up)

10 cloves of garlic - sliced or quartered

1 large onion sliced thin and halved (I like white for this)

1/2 C Olive oil - light preferable

Mix all together in a bowl and spread onto a baking sheet with an edge, or a 9x13 glass dish.  Sprinkle with sea salt (we like smoked) and fresh ground pepper.  Sprinkle with a little (1/2 tsp) red pepper flake and a little (1/2 tsp) cayenne pepper or Chipotle if you like a little heat (which we do).

Bake at 400 in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let cool for a few minutes and then sprinkle with some fresh Basil leaves chopped finely.  Put the whole lot in a bowl and mix well.  Some folks like to puree with a hand blender, but I prefer to mash mine with a wire whisk or a spud masher.  It is awesome as a chunky pasta sauce and it cans and freezes well too if you have enough tomatoes you can easily double or triple the recipe.  

We serve over spaghetti noodles with chunks of roasted chicken or some Italian Sausage.

Enjoy!