Boreal Witch

I am not the best person at finishing projects. Ask anyone. It took me 6 years to finish a Master's degree, for Goddess sake. I have bins of fabric and about half of those are filled with half-made quilts, clothes, or miscellaneous sewing projects.

Needless to say, it's so refreshing to finally be able to declare: "I'M DONE!"

Robinson and I finished Arthur's closet this weekend. It was a pretty involved process, considering we didn't do anything with it when we first remodeled Arthur's room. So it sat, looking like this for a couple of years.

Beautiful, right? Hardly. It was a blight on the room. The worst part was that it was crammed full of all of Arthur's stuff, without any sort of order because, well, I had always thought that we'd finish it a lot sooner than we did. (And, of course, we didn't.) So it sat and sat waiting to be completed. Begging us, maybe.



It must be the excitement of starting something new and the tediousness of continuing it that makes me take so long in getting these sorts of projects accomplished. I really can finish things when push comes to shove, as shown here. This is Arthur's new closet and I must admit, Robinson and I did a dang good job. I still have no idea how we're going to close it off (or if we're going to close it off), but for now I simply admire the organized space.

Besides, Spring Equinox is coming up. Time to get these cramped, cluttered spaces clean and ready for summer!

Blessed be.

My friend Amanda and I went walking at Creamer's Field today. It was a big on the chilly side, but since I had not walked my usual hour at the Big Dipper, I thought it might be nice to get the kids out and get on the trails.

And it was, but our walk was a little long, so the poor babies were freezing cold by the time we got back to the farmhouse. (In fact, while we were heading back, Jade started crying and Arthur said, "Cold!". Then he started crying, too.)

Once inside the farmhouse, Arthur and Jade shared their snacks of grapes and Cheetoes. Jade, however, had other plans for those Cheetoes and pushed Arthur away from her snack. Arthur was already a bit upset because he was so cold, so he just sobbed and sobbed while his little hands and feet warmed up. Poor little guy. Then Amanda made Jade share her juice and Arthur felt better. It's funny how such a little treat can make a kid so happy.

In other news, since it's been so warm out, Arthur's been going outside to play almost everyday. It's great to see him get so excited about pushing his big green truck around outside. That toy used to belong to his cousin Josh (funny thing is, I bought that for Josh for one of his birthdays many, many years ago), but Blythe gave it to Arthur. It's the perfect size for him to zoom around with. Whenever we play trucks, he gets the big green one and I almost always get the little green one.

Hope everyone in the Interior soaks up this awesome weather while it lasts!

Blessed be.

Last spring, Arthur, Robinson, and I set up a homemade bird feeder. As it turns out, Arthur loves watching the many birds that come to eat there. We have a gang of Common Redpolls that fight with the gang of Chickadees over the loose seed (it's like West Side Story out there) and a lone Boreal Chickadee that eats at the suet cake. The other day, we even saw a woodpecker at the suet cake.

There's one Redpoll in particular, however, that sits in the bird feeder and hogs all the seed. He's the largest Redpoll that comes to the feeder and even fights off the Chickadees and some of the other Redpolls that come to feed there. Arthur and I have named him Jabba, after the notorious Hutt from Return of the Jedi. I've even tried to teach Arthur how to laugh like Jabba, but with little success.

I guess it's rather telling that he already knows how to breathe like Darth Vader.

Blessed be.

Arthur is a huge fan of dogs. He loves watching them, he loves petting them, he loves pointing them out, and someday he's going to be like his Uncle Johnny: he's going to want to race them.

Robinson and I promised Arthur all last week that we'd go see some dogs this weekend. When we were standing on the Chena River Saturday, I don't think he quite understood exactly what we were going to do, but I think he was excited because we were doing something new and different. We even saw some people he knew - his friend Jade and her mom and even his Uncle Johnny, who aspires to be a handler for Ken Anderson (and just might, if things go his way!).

We got there just in time for the first musher to take off. For the first half hour we were there, Arthur was much more interested in the airplanes flying around the river than the dogs. As we walked around and watched more of the mushers leave, Arthur got more excited about the dogs. He loved it when Robinson put him up on his shoulders to see the dogs running from the start line.

It was my first Quest as well, and it was awesome to see how the community came out to see the mushers off. I look forward to seeing who wins.

Blessed be.

I had my thirtieth birthday this week, Tuesday. I don't feel any older - should I?

My birthday was a week-long extravaganza. Robinson and I went out on Sunday night and spent the night at Sophie Station - without Arthur (don't worry, he wasn't home alone...his Uncle Johnny was with him). It was so nice stretching out on a king sized bed and sleeping in until 9am. Then I got a massage at Hair, Body, and Sol. I got a lovely pop-up card from my mother-in-law. Afterward, we went home and Robinson told me I could go shopping, but since I was starting to feel sick, I stayed home and took a nap.

Tuesday (my actual birthday), I was dreadfully sick, but that night I was able to get some alone time since Robinson had a school board meeting. Received calls from my mom, my grandmother, and my aunt (who also shares my birthday).

Wednesday, I received some nice gifts from some of my Anchorage family. Still a little sick, but getting better.

Thursday, went to Gymnastics, Inc. and saw Sarah, Alek, and baby Nicolai. They gave us some gifts from Christmas (they were traveling throughout November and December, so we hardly saw them) and a birthday present for me.

Today...I relaxed.

Blessed be.

I am an avid tea drinker. In my opinion, there's nothing better than a hot mug of tea, a few cookies, and a (handmade) quilt to warm the winter. Sipping Stream's green tea and mint mixture is a favorite.

It's come to my attention that Arthur feels the same way about tea. He's always been pretty curious about what Robinson and I drink and will often steal little sips from our glasses. One day, I made him a mixture of lemon juice, honey, and hot water - a concoction I made for colds and sore throats during my pregnancy. He loved it and quickly asked for "More tea."

Now, every time I make a cup of tea, I have to make Arthur one, too.

What's even funnier is that Arthur and I went to Jade's house yesterday and made them both some lemon/honey tea. Amanda informed me that now all Jade asks for is "Tea! Tea!" I'm thinking about getting her a little mug that she can drink out of. Arthur has one that I got from Mom and Dad and he loves it. It's just the right size for him to hold and it isn't very heavy - even when it contains liquids.

May the rest of your winter be filled with hot cups of tea and yummy cookies.

Blessed be.

It's been pretty chilly here lately. Down to -30F a few days ago. Our bird feeder's been vacant for about 2 weeks now. Luckily we saw a mother moose and a baby moose walking on the Chena River last weekend. I think Arthur was getting upset by the lack of wildlife in our yard.

I did, however, get some very nice comments by two other walkers at the Big Dipper; one this week and one last week. Both times they said the same thing: "You're a good mother." The first compliment was right after Arthur started making a huge fuss because he did not want to leave. It was right in front of a crowd of people. I was able to reason with him and averted a tantrum. The second compliment was today. I'm not sure exactly why this woman thought I was a good mother, but maybe she saw me holding Arthur up to the drinking fountains or running laps with him.

Anyway, it's funny. I wouldn't have thought motherhood would be the greatest job I could ever had (and who knew I'd actually be GOOD at it?), but I really do enjoy it. It's tough sometimes, but it's worth it.