Saturday Egavik trip

This was our second trip to Egavik this season. I for sure thought we'd have some critters in the two sets that we did on the first trip. But alas, no critters were even moving around! They have to be getting hungry soon. It's been warm so our bait will be all smelly, too. We're going to have something in the traps when we get back to Egavik. I just know it. On the way out of town I saw some ptarmigan over by some spruce trees. So I drove over and dropped three of them with two shots. Silly birdies didn't even fly away after the first shot!

The trail was considerably rougher than the first ride. The warm weather wreaked havoc on what snow had been packed down. So much tundra and even rock. At the end of December. Ridiculous. We still had daylight after checking the traps so we went off in search of places to do some new sets on the North side of the Egavik River. We found an old trail that might have been my dad's and took it back towards a little slough that led to the main river. There was a beaver house so Gregg chopped down a tree and did a marten set while I took the spruce branches and made a little wolverine cubby. It's perfect to do either a lynx set or a wolverine set when we do a marten set because we have all these beautiful branches for cubbying it up.

Wolverine cubby. See the chunk of beaver in there? Hopefully a critter will too.

It was so warm out I didn't even need goggles and the only time I used my face mask was on the ride to and from Egavik.

My tracks along side lynx tracks. Good spot for a lynx cubby.

I like pole sets for marten so much more than box sets. There's no chance of little assface mice getting their grubby little teeth into the fur and ruining it. Also this is the only trap that I can set without assistance from my trapping partner. I really should lift weights or something. He did get me a pliers type tool for big conibears and foot traps. I don't ever think to set it in the box with all our gear though. He also taught me how to set a conibear trap using a piece of rope. Really handy to know, because you can set it one handed using a hand and a foot. So if you accidentally catch your hand in a trap you can get out.

And of course a marten set.

Seal skin slippers part three

Liners are sewn exactly like the seal skin.  I usually just end up trimming a 1/4" to a 1/2" off of the pattern so they fit with out being too wrinkly inside of the seal skin.  I use fleece to line the slippers and mittens that I make.

Last and final step. Trim. Sew the seal skin, the fleece and the beaver trim all together and tack down. Warm soft fuzziness for your feet. The beaver was really nice and fluffy.  I love the way it poofs out. I fee like it really pulls the slipper together.

Gretchen's pair

Matt's pair

These slippers were my first skin sewing projects. It took me a really long time from start to finish because I tend to be very distracted when it comes to big projects. At least until I'm getting close to the finish line. Then I become obsessed. It'd be a lovely habit to break. But let's be honest, I'm probably not going to break it.

Panda love - literally.

Love, true love.

Panda lips

Panda rules

Scariest panda ever.

Something new

I think most individuals would find me strange for cooking this meat. I thought it would made a tasty stir fry. I was not wrong.  But indeed it was a little strange, even if it was just in my head (the strangeness). First step brine. This takes some of the blood out of the meat and tenderizes it.

Slicing and dicing

The container for the brine.  I salted it a little on the bottom first.

The next day I continued on my cooking adventure.  I sauteed some garlic and shallots and then put the meat in the skillet.  I cooked it a good long time because I wanted the meat thoroughly cooked.  I cooked it in it's juices and then turned up the heat simmering them off to brown the meat.

Simmering and browning

Lastly I chopped up some broccoli, cabbage, and opened a can of baby corn.  I seasoned the meat up when I was browning it.  After the veggies I poured Yoshida's, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce over everything. I simmered it even longer, covering it with foil. Then when the veggies were cooked I thickened up my sauce with some corn starch.

Done!

Any guesses as to what the meat was?

Family time part two

Isn't this the sweetest picture?

Gram Janice, the orchestrator of this fine event.

Spence and Pa pre-nap

Laura came and had dinner with the family.

Brady loves this little hat, so he put it on his little brother Jack.

Kollin is a good cousin.

Andrew fell asleep on Frank's lap.  Too sweet!

Pa and Spencer during nap time.

Family time part one

For Christmas this year we all went up to Gram Janice's and pigged out.  We've done it once before and it's definitely my favorite thing to do on Christmas Eve.  Janice and Bob and their family have really adopted us into their family and I'm so thankful that they've done so.  There were five energetic boys running around, two little boys getting snuggled by everyone that could get a hold of them, and one precocious girl running to and fro with cupcakes in her hands.

It was hard to catch the boys at a still moment.  Here's Raine and Andrew chugging some juice.

Frank trying to get Andrew to sit still for just a moment.

I have no idea how Heather could look so relaxed with all the chaos surrounding her. I guess with 3 boys she's used to it. :)

I had to practically hold this guy down to get a picture with him.  Loves my nephew.

Pa made some juice, well I guess it's called punch during the holiday season and the kids went after it like I go after champagne!  They were trucking back and forth from the living room to the kitchen about every other minute.  I think Pa had to fill up the punch jug at least twice and even then the jug ran dry.  Running around and playing hide and go seek must be exhausting and dehydrating work.

Brady looks so mischievous!

How to get Andrew to sit still.  Hehehe

Emily was just the sweetest and cutest.  She ran around all over with cupcakes and cookies and chocolate covered hands.  Gram Janice and Pa had just gotten a new chair for the their living room so they were running around after her with a wet washcloth.  As soon as they cleaned her up and her little finger print marks she was back in the kitchen going after another cupcake.  It was hilarious!  And then of course she came to crawl on my lap and I ended up with chocolatey finger prints all over my almost clean jeans.  I guess that's karma for laughing and Gram Janice and Pa.

Every little girl needs a pretty purple dress and a light saber.

Squiggles being his little squiggly self.  Lookit that smile!  Makes me melt.

Pa watching the chaos with a smile on his face.

This here is my lovely mother, who has been putting up with me for 29 years.  I think I'm most annoying around Christmas because I'm constantly asking if I can open a present.  It never fails, she always caves in.  Persistent annoyance always wins out.  She also puts up with me and my insane need to puzzle around Christmas time.  I think this year we did two 1000 piece puzzles and four 500 piece puzzles.  I still haven't gotten her to do a 2000 piece puzzle.  Someday I shall wear her down.

My mother dearest smirking at me.

Seal skin slippers part two

Continuing on about seal skin slippers.  Sewing the sides to the front barely takes any time at all.  No welting is used between the seal skin for this seam.

Next step is the sole.  It was a little tricky for me.  I started at the toe and made some marks on the skin.  Then I sewed down both sides of the front piece and then around the back.  I ended up having to cut a little flap of the seal skin off.  It's definitely way better to cut a little off than to have to piece.

Right side out.  Awaiting lining and beaver trim!

Squiggles

Meet Squiggles.  His mom and dad are my friends.  Two nights ago was carrot night.  He chomped them carrots down like a boss!  It was so good to be home and to visit with Heather.  We talked and talked and walked Squiggles back and forth between us as we talked.  He's so lively and all over the place.  (Hence, his nickname Squiggles.)

Om nom nom

He's a very nosy boy.

Look at them big dark eyes.  Makes me melt.  I love it when he smiles and hides into his mom.

I wish I gotten a picture of him smiling.  He has such a perfect little handsome smile.  He's gonna be a lady killer, so is his older brother.  This was the second baby that I've ever held.  I've never been a baby person, and I still don't think I'm a baby person.  But I certainly love on the little ones that I am fortunate enough to be Auntie Sis to.

Wolverine

This is one type of wolverine set that my trapping partner taught me. All you need is a conibear  trap. Pretty nifty if you ask me. We also did some box sets for wolverine, but those are cumbersome to carry around on the trap line. Gregg is tough enough to set conibears with his hands. However, I am a wimp and need to carry a tool around to set them or a rope so I generally leave that to him and I break twigs and sticks and build the little cubby. I'm helpful that way. The trap is braced by three main sticks, you can kind of see them in the triangle formation at the front of the cubby stabilizing the trap.

Cubby set on the river.

We didn't catch a wolverine in the cubby set last year. Boo. We did catch one in a lynx set though! Lucky we checked traps that day. The wolverine was caught by two toes in the lynx foot trap. He tore that area up. We had to rebuild the little lynx set completely. Catching this wolverine really showed me how tough those animals are. I watched Gregg skin the wolverine through to the head and then I had to get home and get some sleep because I had work the next day. I should have said screw work and stayed. He had some difficultly getting around the neck and couldn't figure out why. Turns out there was a snare around his neck from a previous season. His hide had completely regrown over the snare and it was embedded in his skin. Tough!

Mr. tough guy. I didn't want to get too close to him. He was hissing and it was scary.

Gregg dispatched him with his .17HMR. Then I lugged him to the sled. Wolverine are heavy and STINKY! This was a super dark male. I hope the weather improves a bit for trapping. It's been 35 below or colder and the winds have been gusting up to 40 below when it's been around zero. Not ideal. Good news: we're getting snow.

Chemtrack Christmas Party

Lawrence invited me to the Chemtrack Christmas party so I could catch up with everyone and meet his wife.  Of course I had to go.  I impulsively hopped a plane into Anchorage after I okayed it with the prez.  The forecasted weather was iffy in both Unalakleet and Anchorage.  So I ended up here in Anchorage Tuesday night.  I haven't been able to do much (I've been getting a lot of work done though, which I guess was part of the deal with myself.)  Then Thursday rolled around aaaaand so did the Christmas party.  Meet Margie, Lawrence's wife.  She was super duper nice.

She's from St. Michael

And of course the boss and lead operator.  It was really good to kick back and visit with these two.  Dale and Lawrence both had nothing but good and encouraging things to say about me from this past summer.  We told fun stories to Dale's wife Nancy and to Margie about the summer and the silly things that ended up happening on the job site.  And there was free beer.  So basically it was fantastic.  Also, Dale looks crazy different without his beard!  I almost didn't recognize him, but I absolutely recognized his mannerisms when he was chatting with people.

Dale, me and Lawrence

James - the most steadfast guy on the project

Byron stopped by after working a 12 hour shift! Harmony stopped by too, but I didn't get a picture with her. Boo

Lawerance, me and Margie - hahaha... this was the blurry portion of the evening

Definitely worth the miles and $40 fee from Alaska Airlines. Seriously, it's only 10,000 miles to fly round trip from Unalakleet to Anchorage. Awesome. Pure awesome. So awesome, in fact, I'll probably go back to Anchorage for New year's.