Off to Seattle

Tomorrow I take off to Seattle for the weekend. I am leading an Alutiiq language lesson on Saturday, and then I get to spend a day with my Dad and Grandma before flying back.  We just picked up Bailey, who is our friend Alisha's dog, to watch him for the weekend. I will miss most of his visit though since I will be gone. Emmy is pretty excited to see another dog around, having just jumped out of bed when they came in. Now she is laughing hysterically in the hall over Bailey and I'll let it be Jeremy's job to get her back to bed!

Tang'rciqamci! See You All Later!

Cousins

Emmy and Ravenna love each other. It is so adorable.  Ravenna is visiting for a few weeks and they are so excited to spend time together.  The shrieking may get a little loud from time to time but it is nice to see them enjoy themselves so much. I can't imagine how it will be once Melody starts walking and talking.

Isabella Needs our Help.

Isabella B. has been involved in our Alutiiq Language Program for a few years now. She has also volunteered for the Alutiiq Museum's volunteer program. After I got back from Fairbanks this spring I was wondering where she went, and found out that she has been battling cancer. Isabella has always been so giving of her time and effort to help our Museum, particularly in her friendship with the Elders. It has come to the point where she could use our help. Here is her story:

After being misdiagnosed 4 times I finally was given the horrible diagnosis this past march '09. I have a rare and aggressive type of cancer called "lobular breast carcinoma - advanced stage" also a form of the rarest of breast cancers called IBS. This is a painful and rapidly growing cancer and unfortunately it has metastasized to my lymph nodes I will have drained my finances dry by the end of June. My treatment will not be complete by then. I have been denied all medical help from insurance company or Alaska Native Medical Center. I feel like my life has just begun...I have my dream job which is owning my own seafood company. I get to work close with my brother and I LOVE being near the cold Alaskan waters. I am personally enjoying learning my Native language which gives me such excitement. I adore my family...especially my nieces and nephews. To me, they are such a True joy in this world. My costs of treatment are great and if you can give anything to the treatment center at all please send to the address below. It is an odd thing to ask for help, especially when times are hard for everyone, I am so grateful for all of my family and friends so just know if you can't help, it's ok. Know I am fighting hard, and this is a fight! Mentally and emotionally and physically. Please even just drop me a line sometime that would help as well. Please pray for hope as this is a tremendous strain. Love you all : )

Isabella (BELLA)

The Elka Best Foundation has set up a web site where they are accepting donations on her behalf. To visit Isabella's donation page, click HERE. I hope that even in this tough economy you will consider donating a small amount, as it will all add up if we work together. Quyanaasinaq. (Thank you very much.)

Spoke too soon?

Well, now it is getting back to nice. Mostly cloudy with a few tiny patches of blue sky. Not all together bad. I bet the tourists here from the cruise ship are happy not to have to pull out their plastic rain ponchos....

Let's just wait five minutes...

Finally...rain

Last night the clouds rolled in. As the first drops fell I hustled outside and planted my carrots and some more nasturtiums.  Then I didn't even have to water them.  The long stretch of sun was lovely, but we needed the rain.  Everything greened up practically overnight. Plus, Crab Festival is this week, so we all knew it would rain.

By the way, I have installed a link to the Mill Bay webcam on the sidebar under the Kodiak weather, thanks to an update on its status from KoKon.  They do not have a Monaskha cam, but this one is just a few miles down the road anyway.

Emmy's new bed / Adventure with the guys!

Emmy and Lady with the bed Daddy and Mikie made.

Braving the raging waters of the Buskin with Brent, Jeremy and Lady.
Mike was in the safety boat and took the picture.

Future explorer, in training

First Garden Shots

Front Bed.

will compare to late summer

Early Elderberry Flower

Rhubarb Shoots

Lettuce Sprouts

The Old Homestead

My sister Alberta flew out to Larsen Bay the other day to look around where we used to live.  The A-frame we grew up in has seen better days.  It is sad to see the buildings nearly falling down, abandoned, after we spent so much time living there.

Old Harbor Pictures

It was so beautiful when we were out in Old Harbor for the Alutiiq Language Workshop. Nice weather, good company. I missed my family, but I think this was the best trip out I have had. Maybe I say that because the last time I went to Old Harbor I was preggo with Emmy, had morning sickness, severe allergies, and got stuck for 3 extra days due to a cold, windy and rainy October storm.

Fast melting snowy landscape. Saw many bear tracks coming out of mountain dens, and one bear skinny and wandering down from the hills.

Making Kelp Pickles

Alagnaq, Siska's sister.

Peter and I before our "Texas vs. Old Harbor" skit.

Our boat ride with the Elders on the last day. Quyanaa Olga and Chuck!

Rescued Huskies

You may have heard that there has been a lot of flooding in the Interior.  There was a couple with 24 sled dogs that had to get rescued from their roof. I found this pic of some of the rescued Siskas on the ADN Rural Blog.

Nuniami et'ua - I am in Old Harbor

I am out in Old Harbor at the school for Alutiiq Week and our Alutiiq Language Workshop. Today we are having an New Words Couincil meeting, performing some skits and having an Elders dance. I am trying to download some polkas and waltzes from itunes - I have no idea what I am doing trying to find music for the Elders!

It is absolutely beautiful this week. I have been taking pictures and will post some after I get back to Sun'aq tomorrow night.

Moving on up...

We have moved back into the "big house!"  Still have to unpack everything.  There are a lot of things I would like to find among these boxes, but since the weather is SOOOOO beautiful it is hard to stay indoors and concentrate.  Jeremy and a few of his friends are kayaking right now. I am sorta unpacking, sorta wandering around. I may plant some seeds (lettuce, icelandic poppy, viola) later that I picked up at Sutliffs.  Again, the rest of the town has beat me to the Nasturtium seeds.  

Emmy and I drove out to Java Flats this morning for breakfast which was delicious. Jeremy met us out there which was a lovely surprise.  Strangely, Emmy predicted he was going to be arriving, even though he had told me he was going to stay home and sleep in.  She said "My Daddy coming." And  said, "No, honey. Daddy sleeping."  Five minutes later he walked into the coffee shop. Weird.