It's My Oldest Grandchild's Birthday today

I was 41 and living in Bremerton Washington when she was born. I know all you grandparents will know what I mean when I say it seems as if it were yesterday. She was such a happy child, and her parents couldn't believe the joy she brought into their lives. I remember my son saying, " We love her and being parents so much that we want to have another one right away so we can have twice the fun." HA! The second beautiful girl was not quite the joyful, smiling, easy baby that Jennifer was. AH, live and learn. Happy Birthday my precious granddaughter, I love you so much.

I Was A Bit Hasty

I was whining about the October rain, and we have had two glorious sunny days. It sprinkeled a little yesterday but all in all it was a great day. Today was even better. It was sunny and 60 degrees. I sat on the deck and read for awhile and then went to the Friends of the Library book sale. I made my free week-end calls and ate lunch on the deck. It all of a sudden dawned on me that I should finish cleaning out the garage while there was no rain and wind. What a great day for finishing things. After the garage I went to the knitting store and finished two knitting projets while visiting with my friends. We had a full house today as the "season" is over and all the working girls are free. We will all be knitting up scarves, hats, mittens, socks, and other small projects to sell at our booth during bazaar season. I think we needed the two sunny days to get braced up for the usual Oct. weather.

Not Looking Forward To Oct.

In the local paper this morning the yearly rainfall (so far) was publshed, We had 25 inches of rain in September! Traditionally, October is our rainiest month. We had two big storms in the last week or so of Sept. One day we had over 5 inches of rain. We'll get through it, we always do. This weekend our "just fro us" events kick off with the annual Friends of the Library booksale, and the fall schedules of events for the crafters in the area at two of our local craft stores. I just finished a pair of socks for my daughter. It only took me 3 mos. to complete them. I did knit a few things along with the socks, but the socks were very frustrating for me. I did learn a lot doing them though. I learned to read my knitting,how to tink, which is the opposite of knit, and how to fix mistakes. So it was a valuable experience. I'm wanting to go on to something easier on the brain and less frustrating. I'm also trying to decide what to do this winter. Whether to rent out my condo and go south for a few months or not.I have so many options, it's overwhelming.

Happy Birthday Nise'

Saturday is my precious daughter's birthday. She is so special, not only to me and her brothers, but all who know her. She is her church's secretary and an avid blogger on Christian sites. Check out her reading blog "Under the Boardwalk. I'm so proud of you honey, and wish you the very happiest of birthday anniversaries even without the socks I have been working on for you since JULY! They are coming some time soon, with the help of my friend Choc.

Fall Has Arrived

It's foggy today, I can hardly see the 3 cruise ships that are in today. All the jewelry stores have big signs in their windows advertising 70-80% off everything in the store. The Knitting "Girls" were all laughing last night. "80% off what? When you go into one of those stores, the sales people have calculators in their hands as they wait for the customers. They show you an item, tell you the price, and then start figuring what they can get you to pay , so they give you "discounts". My granddaughter loved a rainbow sapphire bracelet - the price quoted was $17,000. They got it down to $800, which was probably a markup of 400%
My point is that unless you are an expert, you have no idea of the real value of any of the pieces. I am looking for a gold chain for the gold nugget my daughter had made for my birthday. My plan is to find a chain that I want and tell them what I am willing to pay for it an see how that goes. I only have 3 mare days to do git 'er done.

Watch out for those Sea Lions!

Today I was at the library which is right on Ketchikan Creek, our most famous Salmon Creek. I feel foolish, but I get very upset when I see the salmon struggling up the creek to spawn, and 4 huge sea lions swimming right along with them just gobbling up the fish before they can get to where they are going. I guess I am not a good outdoors woman. I couldn't go hunting except with a camera. My very good friend, Leah, a beautiful gentle looking young Christian woman, flies her own plane into the wild, shoots a couple of deer, cleans them and hauls them back to her plane and takes her winter meat back to her freezer. Her husband is so proud. I just have to say here-Congratulations Joe,(Leah's husband) on your CAPTAINS WINGS! It's a bid deal and they are out celebrating tonight.

Hi girls, Thanks so much for writing comments. My daughter set this up for me when she was here visiting me and I haven't done anything with it since. But you have encouraged me to get with it. Ketchikan is a great place to live if you know how to keep yourself busy. In the winter it gets dark so early and it rains so much that it is a struggle not to allow depression to take over. The past two winters I got involved with the many secular diversions that are available in the arts and entertainment venue. But now I have found my way into a vibrant Christian community that I am very excited about and that make me feel energized. Ketchikan has lost many of it's employment opportunities because of the environmental considerations. Some of those concerns are valid, but we Alaskans know how to protect our way of life and are constantly working in those areas. So most of the concerns are manufactured and not actually valid. Meanwhile, our lively hood is going down the tubes. Our pulp mills have closed, our timber industry has disappeared, and we are losing residents every month. I have to admit I was getting very discouraged. But many Alaskans are fed up and ready to fight for our state and our cities. We in Southeast Alaska have be relying on the cruise industry to keep us afloat. But that is not growing our cities or providing year round employment for our families or the promise of employment for our children. Drugs, alcohol, witchcraft, and other cults are moving into our cities and we have had enough and are ready to fight to restore our town to a place where people can thrive and be safe and have a future. I will step off my soapbox now and will tell you that the people of Ketchikan are the most talented, compassionate, inventive, friendly, accepting, and helpful people I have ever had the privilege to live among. I love them. I am at a crossroad in my life now. I have no obligations to tie me down to any one place, so I am seeking the Lord and asking what He would have me do. In the past when I have done that, His message to me has been that He can use me wherever I am. But I feel that He has more to say to me now so I am fasting and praying for 30 day and waiting for marching orders. I'll keep you posted.

Why I'm here

I was "doing" Face book and I did not like reading my "Friends" postings and what games they were playing, so I decided to start my blog so I didn't have to deal with all of that. I have spent the evening getting set up so I don't have anything to share tonight. I usually feel creative after supper when I am wondering what to do and there is nothing on television, and I get on the computer. My daughter and her family are visiting me right now from Michigan. This is the first time her family has been in Alaska. My son-in-law says that he was surprised that Ketchikan is so narrow and is built on the side of a mountain. He is enjoying the coming and goings of the five float planes outside my window. I enjoy watching them also, but I don't enjoy all the noise they create. Unfortunately you can't have one without the other. Here's some pictures we took out at Herring Cove near the fish hatchery.