February Fun

This year on February 2nd, Groundhog's Day, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, indicating 6 more weeks of winter. However, with only a 60% track record, we don't put too much weight behind that little critter.

AAround here, we listen more to what the moose has to say about winter. Judging by the way they have been trotting around, we're thinking warm weather is just around the corner. It certainly has been comfortable working outside without frostbite constantly trying to set in. The chickens have also been enjoying the warm air, getting outside and pecking through the wet grass as the snow melts back. In fact, with temperatures reaching 40+ degrees, I was surprised to see TWO mosquitoes buzzing around—seriously! I didn’t get pictures—pics or it didn’t happen, right?! The Alaskan spring and fall weather provide great working temperatures and NO BUGS. But I suppose this warmer weather is drawing out some of the brave, tough-as-nails mosquitoes. This month alone we’ve had what seems like over a foot of snow fall on the property. It’s difficult to measure because it accumulates then melts an inch or two before accumulating more. Believe it or not, at the beginning of the month we had about 8 snowfalls in 7 days! Thankfully the tractor does great for moving the seemingly endless snow. We have a handful of snow hills now for our daughter to enjoy and we like being able to help our neighbors with the snow removal too. After the ‘week-long’ snowstorm, it rained for a day - then it down poured! I thought I heard thunder too but it was probably just the Army/Air Force Base across the bay creating their usual ruckus. It has been a strange year for weather, but sometimes it's strange in our favor.

Moose tracks can be seen everywhere while skiing.

Hoar frost appears on everything when there is lots of moisture in the air when it freezes.

The nice temperatures have allowed the new chickens to continue to lay eggs. We were able to get a handful of eggs last month, but in February the ladies have been consistently producing, giving us two or three eggs per day from our six hens. They are fed chicken feed and food scraps—such as salmon—and they have access to water all day now that it's not freezing (when the sun is out). It’s been nice not having to bring them fresh water multiple times a day. Getting electricity run to their coop this summer would take some winter workload off of us. Electricity to the coop was one of those last minute fall projects last year that the snow beat us to the punch on. Overall, the chickens have been done very well during their first winter and I’ve joined a group on Facebook that is specifically for raising poultry and fowl in Alaska. There are so many great tips from veteran chicken farmers and great questions & answers for us newbies.

Sharing the road with a large team of dogs training for the Iditarod.

Pete and I have started to experiment and create more with epoxy for Wild North Design. Pete has done multiple resin pours while I’m obsessed with ‘painting’ with epoxy. I enjoy creating my own colors and painting on laser cut wood to create the 3D effect of the epoxy. The website has many new products utilizing this method. I can create and customize just about any sign with this technique. Pete has been mastering the pours. Using the beautiful Alaskan birch he milled and planed, he’s cured the pieces then uses the CNC router to cut precise table tops, salmon, and trees. He plans to add some color changing LEDs to the pieces for an extra pop. I will make sure to share the final pieces on the Wild North website!

Pete's latest resin creation.

One of my new pieces available for purchase using my new epoxy painting technique.

Epoxy painted puffin backed with stained Alaskan spruce.

Pete's very first resin pour using live edge Alaskan spruce.

February is the month of love and my birthday. To celebrate, Pete made some delicious s’mores bites and we went cross country skiing on some new trails he found. For the s'mores bites, he chopped Golden Grahams cereal and tossed with melted butter. Next, he pressed and lined the mini muffin cups with this mixture. Then he filled it with high quality homemade chocolate ganache. Finally he topped it off with vanilla meringue and toasted it with the kitchen torch. Somewhere in between you pop the muffin tin in the freezer so the graham cracker crusts set up. Then, pry them out with a small spatula. The chocolate and meringue melted in our mouths and was quite a tasty dessert! For skiing, Pete found some well groomed public trails near Hatcher Pass. It also helped that we picked a perfect, warm sunny day for it. Our daughter is not quite big enough for skis but too big for a backpack carrier so we tied a rope to the sled and around Pete’s waist. It was great to get outside and explore the big backyard as a family!

Melt in your mouth s'mores bites.

Skiing with a toddler proves to be a good workout!

Skiing views from Hatcher Pass. In the far distance you can see the Chugach Mountain Range across the Matanuska River Valley.

This month Pete also built a work bench for the garage/shop. I needed the existing bench (actually, a plastic folding table) for my Wild North Design product shows. It was time to build an upgrade anyway. We had to move the deep freeze to make way for the larger than expected table. But would you expect anything less from an Alaskan Pete? Haha! Pete has also continued to work on plans for a shop build this summer. Getting one more building in as practice before taking on the house build boosts our confidence. We continue to lay out summer plans with the shop build and making sure we stay in line with developing our small farm. It makes us nervous taking on multiple large projects while peppering in cabin projects, miscellaneous homestead projects, and raising our daughter. It’s like standing at the base of Denali and looking up knowing you have to climb it in just a few short months. We will have setbacks and successes, and in the end, I know that when winter comes again and we reflect on summer, I will be proud of what we have accomplished whether or not we made it to the tippy top of Denali. I said it in 2019 when we first arrived here and I’ll say it again, we need hard hats for the Dogs so they can lend a paw or 4 so they can help with the workload too!

Bear sniffing for any signs of moose in the yard.

Catching sunsets with Rez.

Thank you for reading and supporting us! We hope your winter has been as lovely as ours!

Days are getting longer with the sun setting around 6-6:30PM. Sun rises around 7-7:30AM. To the left in the shadows, you might notice the posts and chicken wire around my two "Mother's Day" apple trees/twigs. The makeshift fencing has done great to keep the hungry winter moose at bay during the tree's first winter.