cranberry picking.... fall colors

Sabrina tried to get me to use the berry picker... I found it more useful for a photo.  :)

Of course, she did use it and I think got about 1 and a half, or 2 times as much as me.... hmm...
I have decided I like to do self portraits, at arm's length...
This was a nice clump of berries on a little stump.
same stump, just played with the pic a bit....   loved all those fall colors!

Elic's 8th birthday

Elic had 6 candles on his cupcake and then 2 votives to blow out... he thought that was funny.
He got some legos and an iPod shuffle... pretty exciting!
Here's the party, just some of the cousins, Great Grandma, Pa and Sweetpea, and Aunt Debbie...  everyone hung out for a little bit, ate some cake... did a little running around outside....  easy party!!

Berry Picking at Hatcher's Pass

Rosalee by Willow creek...  with her berries.
Hmm...  what's this look??  she was a serious picker this day.. almost filled her bag!
Mom decided that she'd come berry picking with us one day after school...  she did pretty well.  Enough to make a batch of jam!

These berries were in Archangel valley..  went back another time with a friend, without the kids....  got another gallon!
Here's our smiley guy...  smilin'!
This is up the valley by Reed Lake Trail.
Just some fall color.
These berries were on the other side of the pass.

Rosalee and I posing in the misty mountains.
I think they call these "willow roses."  They are kind of like a bloom at the end of the season.

Maybe I could be Pioneer Woman????

Yummy... these are the varieties I made this day.  Rhubarb cranberry ice cream topping (Sherry requested that sort of thing)  canned some cranberries and blueberries in honey syrup, and made some rhubarb sauce.
This was dinner....  beef stew.  We had some of our potatoes in it... Elic harvested a selection of blue potatoes, peanut, and red potatoes.  Also some Alaska Grown carrots, celery and onions.

Had some cornbread on the side with some of our honey too.   Delicious dinner!

These are the berries that made the jam....  high bush cranberries and blueberries.
This is Sherry's honey...  she got about a gallon this year.
This is some of my honey.  The color difference between the two *Sherry's and mine, is just because of the different areas the hives are in, the different flowers the bees go on.
This is a selection of berries that I had. Black currants, goose berries, cranberries.... just looked so nice together.

Can't believe I didn't put this in the fair section....

For the past few years there have been some pumpkin entries....  this white one, 328 lbs, was from a first time grower... I'd say that's a big accomplishment (ours tend to be 1-5lbs....  maybe)
This one is from a guy in Nikiski..  he has been growing for a few years and was trying to break 1,000 lbs.  but just made it to over 900 lbs...  I still think that's something to be proud of.  

Next year there are a couple more growers that are talking about joining in... maybe one of these days we'll try to grow a 10 pounder!!!

an afternoon at Pyrah's

We went to the u-pick farm this afternoon and found a lovely bouquet for Rosalee...  maybe someday she could get married in September...  the flowers would be SUPER cheap.  (this is a partially bloomed out head of broccoli)
We also found a rat in the veggies!   This is Georgea's buddy Lewis, he likes cabbage and radishes.  :)

These were pics off my phone, which I figured out how to add on to the blog.... so now I can take pics of anything and blog them....  hahahhhahaaaaa (read as evil laugh!)

Bring on the Fun... Alaska State Fair 2008

So I ended up on this ride... I was fine going forward, but then all of the sudden you're going backwards..  oh SO much fun!!!  I did have fun screaming and making faces at Georgea.
She had to sit out on this one...  not quite tall enough.
There they are the daredevils on the hang glider.
Here's the horse rider.   I took about 5 of these pics before she finally looked my way.
This is Georgea's buddies cabbage,  Scott Robb.  He is a giant veggie grower..  this cabbage came in at over 79 lbs.
Hanging out waiting for the next exciting event at the fair.
Just one of the fancy fair rides you see on sunny days.
Rosalee's creamed honey, this is the same starter we used last year, that Elic won a purple on... must be pretty good stuff eh?
Elic and Georgea's honey frames.  Elic got Judge's Choice on his.
These are the veg heads they made this year.  We had Wig (Georgea's), Party Guy (Elic's) and Suddy (Rosalee's)   They all did such a good job, paid such attention to detail... but next year we will have to figure out bigger and better....