Life – Page 4 – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

The Struggle is Real

Published on October 14, 2015October 13, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

As the name of this blog implies our home is constantly filled with dust bunnies. It’s a daily struggle just to keep up, even with the addition of Roomba, who we run several times a week. Recently I noticed he was leaving behind little piles of fur on the edges of rugs but hadn’t signaled that he needed to be emptied. I knew he was probably nearing that point so I flipped him over to check and discovered that the fur was actually just collecting on and around the brushes rather than getting pushed into the dirt compartment; plus it had wound around the gears of the brushes as well!

I spent the next 10 minutes tediously digging the hair out of several little nooks and crannies in the brush compartment and behind the front wheel. It was amazing how much fur was stuffed inside – just look at the monster dust bunny it created on the floor as I pulled it out!

And that doesn’t include what was actually in the dirt compartment! This is the reality of a three dog + one cat home! But these goofy mugs and the love they give make it worth it, so we’ll continue to be the Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys household!

And if you wonder why I don’t mention cat toys in that moniker, it’s because she’s too dignified to have silly toys like those heathens. Instead she has things us humans bring home for her approval. Like baby carriages, boxes and small yet important parts of larger things, which she skillfully hides to test our hunting abilities. I’m sure she’s very discouraged by our lack of skill in that department! 🙂

The Royal Carriage

Published on September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

Recently I was editing client photos in the office and heard the sound Luna makes as she’s falling asleep nearby, but she was no where to be found. I looked around and soon discovered she had curled up in the antique baby carriage I’d recently brought home as a newborn prop and put in the corner of the studio. Not only was she a perfect fit for the little stroller, but she seemed so comfy she didn’t even open her eyes when I moved a box sitting next to the carriage. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pull the carriage out a bit and quickly put up a backdrop to capture a few shots.

I might not have newborn shots of all my fur babies, but this ranks right up there with that! Her siblings were fairly concerned that their kitty was snoozing in this contraption and each took turns checking on her.

Eventually Tequila laid down to keep watch while her kitty cat slept – or perhaps wonder why we don’t have a stroller she could fit in! 🙂

Eventually, the Princess arose from her beauty sleep and posed for the paparazzi (aka – mom). Seriously, could she look any more regal sitting in a stroller, lace draped out the side with a glittery gold backdrop?!

And this isn’t the first time she’s shown her approval of my prop and décor finds. She also declared this antique wooden box suitable for her royal hinny!

I’m so glad she approves. Her parked rump is much more appreciated than the dog’s use of my couch throw pillows as dirty paw rests! But such is life with pets. And we wouldn’t have it any other way!

A Sweet Harvest

Published on September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

Although they haven’t been around long, the freebie raspberry plants we added to the yard earlier this summer have been cranking out a pretty bountiful and sweet harvest recently! We noticed a large batch of berries form on several of the plants about a month ago and patiently waited for them to fully ripen.

The first harvest (seen below) was fairly small, but within a few days another batch was ready (seen above). While a few were still a little tart, the majority were sweet and juicy – perfect for a yummy, easy to eat breakfast during my morning commute the next day.

During the holiday weekend I picked a third batch that was twice the size of the first two! Those were also promptly eaten for breakfast on my morning drive to work yesterday. And there’s still more berries waiting to ripen on the bushes. Hopefully the cold weather stays away long enough for them all to come in fully so we can enjoy a 4th or maybe even 5th harvest.

What’s even more impressive is that all of these came from just a handful of bushes. Most of the bushes are still establishing themselves and focusing on lush leaf growth rather than berry production, so next year we should have a plethora of berries when those start adding to the harvest. Guess I better start saving raspberry everything recipes now!

The Cluck Club

Published on September 8, 2015September 8, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

Over the holiday weekend we added some new members to our family! Welcome (from back to front) Biscuit, Nugget, Fil-a and Curry. And they have some fancy new digs courtesy of the hubs handi-man skills! Here’s a quick photo tutorial of how it went together.

He started with two side panels of framed wire, to form the main area which serves as a run for the chickens to move around in. He added more framing for what would become the hen house floor at the rear of the coop.

Next he added sides to the hen house, followed by foam insulation. He also extended the floor of the hen house past the framing to make an area for nesting boxes.

After insulation was added to the floor, the nesting boxes starting to take shape at the back of the hen house.

Then he added dividers to make three separate boxes so the ladies have a bit of privacy when laying.

Next he added a roof to the nesting boxes that can be lifted for collecting eggs.

This puppy is well insulated so the chickens will stay nice and warm when the weather dips below 0 during the winter. With insulation foam sandwiched between layers of wood on all of the walls and floor it should be pretty cozy.

And if you’re wondering if it’s sturdy, Stoli and his 70 some pounds of muscle can guarantee that it is!

Once the main parts of the walls were in, he added the roof panels.

And from the side it was really starting to look like a coop! If you notice, we moved the coop forward a bit so there’s more room at the back because the clean out access for our septic line is right next to the house and should we ever need to use it we wanted some room to work.

At my request, he added a covering of linoleum material on the entire hen house floor to make cleaning the coop out easier.

And here’s the finished project – after several weeks of work! Unfortunately, it rained here for most of the holiday weekend so I wasn’t able to paint it before we brought the chickens home, but once the weather improves for a few days all of the wood will get a coat of bright white, which should give it a true farm house feel!

The nesting box roof got a metal covering to match the rest of the coop and keep the elements at bay.

You can see most of the inside of the hen house when the small roof is lifted – a feature I’m sure I’ll appreciate immensely when checking on them during the winter.

In addition to the nesting boxes, the hubs installed an inside roost for the hens to use when the weather gets colder.

The two side doors open wide to give full access to the inside of the hen house which has a light to provide both warmth and stimulation to continue laying throughout our dark winter.

He also installed a feeder made of PVC pipe and a water bottle with a nipple at the bottom so both stay as clean as possible with minimal waste.

I’d never used poultry water nipples before, but they operate on the same mechanics as a rabbit water bottle and the chickens had some at their previous home so they already know how to use them.

A ramp to access the hen house from the run and a large branch for an outdoor roost made it chicken ready.

Everyone was very excited to meet the chickens. Even Luna came out to welcome them, although she stayed out of the dogs way by perching herself on the nearby ladder. To give the chickens some breathing room from their four-legged siblings we fenced off the main part of the coop with some large metal grates we got for free on Craigslist a while back. We’ll leave these up for a while until everyone is used to each other. Until then they are under almost constant surveillance, but they don’t seem to mind too much.

Eventually I’ll add pea gravel around the coop so it doesn’t get super muddy, but for now we’re just happy to have the coop mostly finished (sans painting) and chickens inside it.

Although they aren’t free range like they were at their last home, I have been giving them yard cuttings and table scraps to dig through which they seem to enjoy. And we all enjoy watching them settle into their new home. 🙂

Fun at the Fair

Published on September 3, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

Fall is harvest season and that means it’s the typical time for county and state fairs. The hubs and I won tickets to a country concert at the fair which included fair admission so we made a night of it. I’d never seen this FAIR photo spot before but it was pretty cool. The hubs didn’t want to play the I but agreed to get a shot of me doing so. I have no idea why my jeans look like high waters, so just ignore that part!

The weather was absolutely perfect with blue skies and there was plenty else to see beyond the FAIR sign, from old historic barns to the traditional ferris wheel at the carnival.

We sampled the classic hand dipped ice cream, toured the art exhibits, wandered along the rows of vendors where we purchased specialty jams and syrups for ourselves and as gifts for friends and family. Then decided to head to the livestock barn, because as former 4-H and FFA members that’s what the fair is really about for us. On the way to the barn I spotted this awesome garden figures made completely of living plants. It was the best kind of art!

At the livestock barn we watched baby chicks hatch in an incubator, including this cute little fluff ball.

And as a previous goat owner you know I stopped to say hello to this sweet face! Those ears just made me want to open the gate and take her home!

And just down the row these two kids were enjoying their dinner, in more ways than one. Seriously, does it get any cuter? Yes, but only if those were Nubian kids with big floppy ears. Can you tell I’m a bit biased?

I have to share this competitor’s stall because they went all out to decorate. From a hand-made wooden sign and fabric bunting to a collage of all their livestock next to a thank you to their buyers from the previous year it was absolute perfection!

Across the aisle were the pigs, who were apparently catching up on their beauty sleep. But they were pretty darn cute doing it.

We wandered past the sheep, which I will never own again!, to the cows and then on to this single reindeer. At first I thought it odd to see a reindeer in the market barn, but it is Alaska and I’m well aware of just how tasty Rudolph can be so it makes sense after all!

Beyond the barn there was some local produce for sale at phenomenal prices considering most were extra large. The Mat-Su valley is well known for growing monster vegetables thanks to our unique summer climate. We didn’t go far enough to see the competitors for the largest pumpkins and other categories but they often take up an entire flatbed semi to be transported to the fair!

We never did make it to the concert, but since it was at an open-air amphitheater we still heard most of it. Ready for a break we got some raspberry topped funnel cake – my fair food must have and rested our feet at a picnic table next to the face painting and crazy hair booth which produced a pretty entertaining batch of both their trades. Although we had dessert first with the ice cream and funnel cake we wanted something that qualified for dinner before we headed home so we stopped by a local meat processing company’s food stand and ordered Caribou Steak Sandwiches. For those that don’t know caribou and reindeer are the same, except one is wild while the other is domesticated, so I was probably eating the cute reindeer above’s long lost wild cousin. But he sure was mighty tasty! 🙂

We came, we saw, we walked, we tasted and we had fun. It was a great fair experience!

Feeling Fallish

Published on September 2, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThriftDCreationsFall is my favorite season. I love seeing the colors change and the crisp feel in the air. It makes me want to grab a cup of cocoa, light a fire, snuggle up in a cozy sweater and watch the leaves fall as I start to plan for the upcoming holidays. But fall is also usually one of my busiest seasons so it’s pretty rare when that actually happens. This time of year I’m prepping for the holiday bazaars, creating family portraits for client’s holiday cards and preparing our home for winter, which will be here before we know it. Fall4

I will admit that I did attempt to ignore the initial signs of fall. Alaska’s amazing summers are hard to give up and those first few cooler days are not well accepted because we know it means our days of endless sunlight and amazing landscapes will soon be replaced with darkness and cold. But once I accept it I always fall in love with this wonderful transition season.

Now that I’ve conceded that summer has passed, I’ve embraced fall and carved out a bit of time to get out and photograph it’s beauty with my photography Meetup group. We went up into the foothills of the Chugach mountains where the colors are more pronounced due to cooler temperatures.

I love the vibrant colors seen in the plants, which are offering the last of their harvests and one last burst of beauty before the first frost arrives.

And our beautiful fireweed has now released it’s seed to blow in the wind and begins to display a variety of colors including green, red, orange and even purple on it’s leaves. This was one of many I spotted along the trail recently.

In fact a colorful autumnal fireweed is one of my favorite shots to date. It literally screams fall every time I see it.

I took Friday off to make the long holiday weekend even longer so I can wrap up a few outstanding projects around the house, like getting the deck prepped for cooler temps, cleaning up the garden, reclaiming the garage for parking and of course decorating for fall! I’ll also be updating my Etsy shop inventory, revamping my photography marketing and testing out new designs for the holiday bazaar I’ll be selling at after Thanksgiving. But I’m determined to squeeze in a little fall relaxing too. In fact I already purchased all of the s’more making materials needed for our firepit’s fall debut, and I can’t wait!

Time Well Wasted

Published on July 25, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

Although it’s been quiet here on the blog this week, it’s been an extremely busy and emotional week in the DB&DT household. Monday morning we lost my grandmother Mema, just a little more than a year after my grandfather, Pappa Vince passed away. It was also the day after the anniversary of my Aunt Diane’s passing.

The loss of so many loved ones in such a short time has been extremely difficult for our family, but life doesn’t pause for us to grieve. I had photography client sessions and meetings and the hubs had an overnight work trip out of town that still had to happen. As we made peace with the loss it made me realize just how fortunate we had been to enjoy some ordinary moments of life the weekend prior.

A walk with my photography group allowed me to see a fearless meadow vole who even let me pet him and meet a beautiful boreal owl who was missing a wing.

Photographing a wedding that afternoon brought a sighting of a young black bear.

That evening the hubs and I enjoyed a walk in this amazing field of wildflowers, a true treat during Alaska’s short summer season.

And I was blessed to capture this sweet shot of the dogs as they romped through the blooms.

I picked a little bouquet to take home as we wandered along the trail laughing at the dogs’ hijinks.

Despite a mile-long list of things to do around the house we drove to the Kenai peninsula the next day to visit some of the hub’s extended family who came up from Arizona to fish. Along the way we stopped at another filed of wildflowers surrounded by stunning mountains.

And spotted glaciers right from the road.

Down at the river we enjoyed watching the hub’s uncles and cousin fish along the riverbank. It’s a beloved tradition for them to come here each summer and spend quality time together creating memories.

It warmed my heart to watch them chat and share smiles as they cast their lines.

Then the memories started biting- one after another and they worked as a team to reel them in.

With each catch the smiles grew and I knew these were the moments they will look back on and smile in the years to come, especially when they return home and share the results with other family members as they recount tales from the river.

It wasn’t a hugely productive weekend, but it was filled with memories in the making and plenty of time well wasted as one of my favorite country songs describes. My little bouquet in the window is a lovely reminder of my love for those now gone and the importance of making the most of the time we are given because you never know when it might be your last opportunity to do so. Time well wasted is a precious gift – one I continue to give freely and I hope you all do the same.

We Robot!

Published on July 2, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

We are now the proud owners of a robot, thanks to a fantastic trade I made recently – a photo session and some cash for a like new Roomba! We had been considering purchasing one for some time but just couldn’t pull the trigger due to the hefty price tag, so when I saw one on a local buy/sell page I offered a trade and the woman selling agreed. Luckily, the model she was selling is designed for pet hair and she still had all the accessories and manual for it. RoombaBathroom

It’s been interesting to see how we’ve all adjusted to having a robot in the house. The hubs and I often catch ourselves welcoming Roomba when it enters the room we are in or complimenting it for docking itself when in need of charging even though we know it’s just a machine. We’re just friendly like that I guess. I do find it funny that the Hubs refers to Roomba as ‘she’ while I say it’s a ‘he,’ but either way I’m really enjoying not having to vacuum as often.

The fur babies were not quite as excited about the new intruder. Luna wasn’t quite sure what to make of it and would watch from a distance, then run off if Roomba got too close for her comfort. The dogs on the other hand thought Roomba was a fabulous new toy that they should play with by jumping and barking. They were pretty frustrated when Roomba ignored them and continued on his cleaning mission.

Now that its been a few weeks, they’re no longer excited about it. In fact, now it’s often the fur babies who ignore Roomba. He can bump into the furniture where Luna is napping and she barely even opens her eyes! The dogs have given up trying to get Roomba to play and usually step right over him when he’s in their way.

Although he’s a bit louder than I anticipated he does a pretty good job of picking up all the pet hair, which is a big improvement for my allergies and makes me feel like the house is cleaner overall. Granted he doesn’t get everything so I still vacuum once a week, but I no longer have to cover every square inch of the house. Instead I focus on the corners and edges where Roomba sometimes misses spots. Now that we’re back from traveling I just need to program his schedule so he will clean and charge all on his own and I don’t have to remember to turn him on each day.

Do you use a Roomba or similar product? I’d love to hear any tips or tricks you might have, especially if they make life even easier. 🙂

It Pays to Stay Fit!

Published on July 1, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

So remember when I told you I joined “Fit Club” at work? Well, it certainly paid off! Not only did I win $25 in one of the monthly drawings, but today I found out that I won first place, which comes with a $250 prize! Since I only paid $10 to join I’m ahead $265. Now that’s what I call motivation. 🙂

I was below my starting weight at each monthly weigh in – granted some months it wasn’t by much, but the fact that overall I lost weight is pretty satisfying. Since its kept me accountable so far, I’ve decided to keep going and have already signed up for the next 6 month round. Hopefully it helps me continue making healthy choices when the holidays roll around.

Normally I’d use my prize money to treat myself to something special, but since I just got back from traveling on vacation, where I bought lots of treasures including some awesome finds at a huge “junk show” that I’ll be sharing those very soon, I’m pretty sure it will go to paying off all that fun. But that’s still a huge win in my book!

What do you do to stay motivated to make healthy choices? Do you find you do better with the support of a team or are you better off going solo? Share your successes in case they might work for others too!

Fun in the Sun

Published on June 3, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

Now that summer has arrived we’ve been out riding in our side-by-side just about every weekend. Our favorite spot to ride is the Knik Public Use Area which is part of a massive glacier fed river delta. Because the river is constantly changing its course across the large open space, it’s a different experience every time we visit. It’s not uncommon for the beach we stopped at last time to have become a sandbar in what is now the middle of the river, or for a route we’ve previously used to be cut off by a newly formed stream, but that’s what makes it such an interesting place to ride.

There are a variety of terrains, including wooded trails, bluffs, meadows and sandy areas. My favorites are the black sand beaches along the river’s edge with fantastic views of the mountains.

That’s where we usually stop to let the kiddos play. They weren’t too sure about getting in the water at first, which I can understand because the water is not only cold, it’s very silty making it difficult to judge just how deep it really is.

I enjoy wandering the shoreline looking for driftwood to collect for various projects I want to do while the dogs race back and forth on the sand like greyhounds.

Driftwood

And if it’s warm enough, I ditch my shoes for a black sand exfoliation. I call it the Alaskan pedicure.

Eventually the dogs find a shallow spot where they pretend to walk on water until we find a stick to throw for them.

Tequila prefers bigger sticks which she retrieves from the water and digs at until they are hidden by the crater she’s created in the sand. Then she bounces and barks to show the giant stick who’s boss. When her siblings try to assist her, she quickly tells them she doesn’t need help.

So instead, they come snuggle with mom and dad until they are ready to run some more.

In between all this activity they sometimes agree to pose for pictures….

And sometimes they don’t….

Then when they are ready to ride again they load up in the side-by-side, as if to say “hey, let’s go!”

Although sometimes they try to sneak in and ride shotgun, which never works. 🙂

And once we’re on the trail, I watch them play lookout for the next spot to stop and explore.

One trip, we spotted some fan boats going up the river. The dogs weren’t sure what to make of them, or the waves they created on the river bank.

We’ve also spotted small planes in the area, since there is an airstrip nearby and the Palmer municipal airport isn’t far.

And sometimes we find signs of Alaska’s wildlife, usually in the form of tracks or droppings, but occasionally you’ll come across a more glaring example of the life cycle.

Back at the truck after riding, the dogs watch from the tailgate while daddy loads up their favorite toy until the next time we go riding. Can you say spoiled? 🙂