Friday, June 29, 2007

The Imagination of a Four-Year-Old

Maren is reading to her wild Appaloosa, Susie (Susie is the bike you see here in the picture.)
Maren "found" the wild mare at the park, tamed her and went on to win, the blue and the red "ribbons" in the horse races. We loaded her up in the trailer ( Jill's car) and put her shipping bandages on and brought her home. She got real "rowdy" ( new word for Maren) in the driveway and we had a hard time getting her into the paddock (the stoop). Maren tought it would be better to put her in the stall (the porch) so she could calm down. Maren then proceeded to get out two tupperware bowls, fill one with water and put a real carrot in the other one. She thought Susie really needed something to eat. Well, that didn't work. Susie started " buckin' and rearin' like she's loco." So Maren got out the horse breed book to read to her and calm her down. She immediately came back in to put her "barn boots" on because it was "mucky." The reading seems to be working. I can hear her outside now yelling at something named Bullseye. Better go lend a hand and round up another wild mustang. That's life on the ranch for ya.

Fun & Sun at the park

Jumping and...
























...more jumping

















climbing and...












swinging
















make Maren a tired girl.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Maren & Jonah: Popscicles and Purple Tie Dye








Who's Aunt Maggie?

As I scarfed down the last gingersnap yesterday, I frantically looked in my recipe books for a new cookie recipe to make. What pregnant woman can be without cookies lying around? I found this recipe for Aunt Maggie's Jam Thumbprint Cookies. Always looking for a new way to enjoy my homemade raspberry rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb jams, this cookie seemed like the perfect one. And it is. Three sticks of butter later...YUM! Here is the recipe if you'd lilke to treat yourself:

24 tablespoons (3 STICKS) room temp. butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour
jam (any type)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and beat until completely combined. Add flour until incorporated.
2. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet ay leats 3 inches apart.
3. Press the center of each ball about 1/4 inch deep. Add 1/2 tsp of jam to each cookie.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
Thanks Aunt Maggie whoever you are!

Lunch at the Stable

Maren and I had lunch today at the Chamberlain Equestrian Center. "Colonio" (the paint) and
"Horse-yet-to-be-named" (the palomino) came along to see some of their buddies. As we ate, Maren explained "That one is a bay. A horse has to tuck its legs under to jump. Those horses are cantering. That one is a great jumper!" Not for one moment did she take her eyes off the horses. I think she may have eaten a little plastic bag along with her PB&J. At one point she even said, "OK Mom, I am ready for my lesson." I gave her some convoluted answer about how kids that are four can take lessons and of course this led to the ultimate question, "When can I get a horse?" I continued on with my improvisation of giving her an answer. "It is a big job to care for a horse- and it costs a lot of money." Her response, "I have plenty of money in my piggy bank Mom!" These interactions are tougher than terrible two tantrums! You have to have an answer for everything! At least we know what we can do for her for her fourth birthday- what four year olds can finally do- a horseback riding lesson.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

An Evening Hike in the Park

Barefoot and pregnant in the wildflowers.

It's so bright you gotta wear shades (at 9pm)!

The view from Blueberry Hollow

Wild Geraniums
Lupine
Yellow paintbrush

David and I hiked this evening up Gasline Trail and back Powerline up in Chugach Park. Bright sunny evening, surrounded by green in every direction with wildflowers sprouting up like crazy.



Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Attack of the Robin Red Breasts!


A morning walk in Anchorage can be filled with many surprises. Wildlife encounters within the city of Anchorage are common. There are always moose to spy, the occasional bear ambling across the trail, the bald eagle soaring towards the water or even wild salmon swimming upstream to spawn. But today I had a most surprising and intimidating encounter that I will not soon forget.

A lovely walk around Goose Lake surrounded by lupine, columbine, poppies and wild irises sent me hiking off the paved trail and onto a lesser dirt path looking for more wildflower beauty. Up and over a small earthy mound, I came upon an intersection of trails and briefly perused each direction before selecting a route to the south. Now before I go further, this was not Alaska wilderness I found myself in. This was not the alpine tundra above tree line, not the alder infested brush of bear country, but a skinny urban trail just north of the UAA parking lot. Obnoxious construction clangs and clamors shook my body, as I grew more bitter of the background construction zone noise just west of my location. But onward I went in search of visual beauty with the hopes of tuning out the thunderous booms next door.

I plodded down the mound and noticed a tree felled just off the trail. As my eyes scanned away from the tree I saw two birds flailing and squawking above the tree. I remember thinking "bird fight!" and recalled an earlier encounter of watching two woodpeckers defend their stump. But the flailing and squawking grew closer; brilliant yellow bird beak wide open with rage and anger was headed my way. The other bird was aimed toward my head and flying at me, not with a flutter of gentle wings but literally treading air and viciously flapping its wings on a diagonal towards my left ear. The construction sounds faded into mere whispers, but this was no sweet and joyful chirping common to the robin. It was a call of alarm, of panic, of attack and it was directed at me!

The robins worked in tandem: squawking, diving, frantically flapping all within feet of my head. At this point I was cowered, down low, keeled over in submission, heart racing, laughing madly in both fear and disbelief. Were these gentle, red-chested symbols of spring about to peck my eyes out or draw blood from my skull? Am I going to get away from these beasts unscathed? A flash of what-to-do-in-a-bear-charge information sprinted through my thoughts but I quickly realized I was dealing with feathered, much smaller creatures and I refocused on just getting the hell out of there.

I scrambled back up the mound, hands over head, panting, looking in every direction for possible attack. I laughed wildly at the insanity of my predicament and realized that I was so frightened that I was suffering from the physical effects of fear. Prickly tingles shot downward and forced my legs into a catatonic state that made forward movement a struggle. I was breathing rapidly and as I brought my hand up to calm my chest I realized I was shaking. A sudden feeling of ermergency spread from my chest outward. Robin red breasts are attacking you! Will I ever see my daughter again? Disbelief and fear led way to the giggles, giddy laughter and head shaking. Then the urge. The need. The immediate and instant feeling of needing to relieve myself. Those robins scared the piss out of me.

With the robins seemingly out of sight, and my breathing and catatonic leg status returning to normal, I looked again for a reasonably hidden spot to crouch and release and yet another dirt path led me to a patch of dwarf dogwoods hidden by a branchy spruce. I untied my pants and looked up ready to lower when Mama moose looked at me with total disgust. Get out of here you human; frightened by birds, I don't even want to look at you. Her calf barely glanced at me, but dismissed me with its body language and reached under Mama for a drink. My hands immediately rose up like a convict giving up the chase; if I had a white flag I would have raised it in surrender.

I walked back to civilization and relieved myself in the dirty women’s’ restroom of the Paddleboat Cafe.


(I spent an hour on the computer reading about robin red breasts and here is some of what I found: Robins defend themselves from attack by sending alarm calls when predators come near. If there are other neighboring Robins to help, the Robins will work together to mob the predator or help each other escape (Titus and Haas, 1990). Robins dash at the unwelcome visitor chirping loudly, snapping their bill, and erecting the feathers, in hopes of scaring the predator off or bringing enough attention to the area for other Robins to assist in the mobbing attack (Howell, 1942). Robins are very aggressive, especially females, when an intruder enters the nest site because of their investment in survival of offspring.)

Practice Makes Perfect

Please welcome Rose America and Mary Elizabeth to the family. Maren has had twins. She "gave birth" to them at a friend's house and Maren "delivered them all by herself!" She "nurses them and helps them and feeds them milk and she loves them and she takes care of them and my mama helps me take care of them sometimes." Today we put them in their carseats and buckled them in for safety and took them with us to our buddy's house to play. Sarah got a good lesson in the time it takes to get three "children" into the car as opposed to one. If we keep this up, by end of October, Baby Duffy #2 will be a breeze! (Twins was Maren's idea. We are only expecting a single child!)

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Mini Whinnies...Yee-ha!

We're in the the Mini Whinnie business! Aunt Sis sent Maren the stallions and ever since Maren has been saying that the stallions want to "get married" and have mares and foals. So today we had a lovely ceremony and we now have SIX Mini Whinnie families!

"Yee-ha! I'm a cowgirl. Cowgirls have their horses and have their cowgirl hats and they round up sheeps and they round up cows."

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hiland Road Hike

Maren and I drove up Hiland Road (our old neighborhood) to hike in the mountains today. It is a lovely day here in AK. We stopped a bit for Princess and King to graze in the labrador tea.




Mom: Who's been eating that tree?

Maren: A MOOSE!













Maren rode "Bonzo" the wild mustang. He really likes it when she scratches him on the side. She asked me to feed him a carrot, but I didn't know where his mouth was.

















The view from Lookout Point towards Symphony Lake. We watched a bull moose splashing in the small pond below.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Strawberry Bumper Crop



Maren harvested strawberry #2 today. It's been a good year for strawberries!

Keylime Pie...Yum-O!

My friend Jill made me a HOMEMADE KEYLIME PIE for my birthday. We ate it for breakfast today. It was DELICIOUS! I think keylimes are recommeded for baby brain development, so it is all in the name of motherhood that I finish it up.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Look who turned 27!



Ummmmm....I mean 37.

Heavenly Hatcher Pass

Today we drove up to Hatcher Pass to hike and hunt for wildflowers. We had a picnic and then hiked straight up. We were on the sunny side of the pass and so we played, relaxed, took pictures and enjoyed the view. It was the PERFECT birthday party with my family.




Happy birthday girl! I got lei'd on my birthday!





















Family photo (sort of)!











Dogs were pooped after a good marmot hunt.











Maren rode "Rocky" the wild mustang.


















The dogs were very happy to find snow.
















There was even packed powder for skiing!

Wild about Wildflowers!

Hatcher Pass was FULL of wildflowers- more than I could have ever imagined. I knew some and learned a few more- Western Columbine, wild geranium, forget-me-nots, narcissus anenome, windflower, Western buttercup, mountain sorrel, capitate valerian, sitka valerian, moss heather, false hellebore, dwarf dogwood, king's crown, spider saxifrage, blueberry blossoms, nagoonberry, blue bells, and prickly rose. I just wandered with my Verna book in hand and it was perfect!












Blueberry blossoms!

















Wild geranium
















Forget-me-nots, ferns and dwarf dogwood.

Happy Father's Day!






Happy Father's Day! Maren picked out a top of the line hunting pack for her dad for Father's Day and he LOVES it. I think Maren may have some fun with it too!









I am having a lovely birthday!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Hiking with the "Norms" on Winner Creek

Today we drove to Girdwood with our friend Noel to hike out to Winner Creek. About five minutes into the hike, Maren began spotting "norms" and unicorn prints. After another five minutes, we finally figured out that she was talking about gnomes. They were everywhere in the old logs, on the plants, even fishing in the creek and they all spoke to Maren giving her clues about where the unicorn was! At one point we stopped every three paces to listen to the "norms" talking to us. What an adventure!
















Salmonberry flowers
















Lovely trail through the Sitka spruce



















"World" (the world's best digger--hence the horse's name) was digging for oats, apple pieces and roots.

















Hiking with the "Norms" (gnomes)---can you see the two gnomes following behind?















































Winner Creek