Another Sister Visit!

Jen's sister Peg and brother-in-law Scot have been trying to visit us at the lodge for several years--and this winter it finally happened!  Scot didn't let a little incident the week before that resulted in a broken foot stop him.

Peg and Scot approaching the dock.

Peg pretending to fly the plane!

 

Made it!

Jen and Peg on a muddy hike up to Sadie Lake. 

Sadie Lake

Trumpeter Swans!

The Sadie Lake trail was so muddy coming up, we decided to bushwhack back to the lodge.  Jen and Peg were very happy with that decision!

 

Made it with minor cuts and bruises!

The school of herring at the dock.

Skiff ride around the bay--easy on a broken foot!

A little rougher out in Chatham Strait.

 

Sisters at the falls.

Sea lions feeding on herring at the dock.

Heading Home.

There she goes again!

Moby Log!

Call me Rickmael.  Some weeks ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing to interest me on shore, I got a call from our neighbor Keith.  "Thar be a huge log out in Chatham--I can see 'er with me naked eye!"  Say no more--Jen and I jumped in the skiff and headed out to look for this monster!

Looking for the monster log!

Thar she be--all harpooned and hooked up fer towin'--you can see it daren't get much calmer than this in Chatham Strait!

 

Towin' the monster through Warm Springs Bay back to the lodge, 'ere we lose her to a storm or to 'er mate!

We put that thar log into a holdin' pattern to wait for a higher tide in yonder days.

 

Pullin' the log in closer to the wood shed at high tide.

 

' Pulled 'er in until she grounded and waited fer the tide to drop. 

 

Waitin'  fer low tide--me shown' off this massive catch!  Arrrrrg!

Cuttin' the root ball off took many turns with the chainsaw--Arrrrrg!--on either side o' the log.

Now we be a' crackin'!

 Thar she lies.

Me  thot that thar root ball be a stickin' 'round.

 

But she been diverted to a higher use!  "Wha's that thar cormorant doing on yer log?"  "Looks like the ol' breast stroke!"  (For the record--this is an immature double crested cormorant--much larger than our garden variety pelagic cormorants.)

We've got crab legs!

 

Just before Jen's sister and brother-in-law, Peggy and Scot, came to visit us we were able to bum some nice tanner crabs off a passing crab boat.

"The only way to crab!"

 

Feral supervised dunking and retrieving from the live well.

Quality control test!

Don't try this with Dungeness crab (they're a lot quicker)!

 

Feral gets first shot at Crab Tartare!

 

Good to the last bite, but the river otters and minks cleaned up when Feral was done.

 

How to have fun painting!

 

We recently completed a painting project that was 8 years in the planning.  At the request of one part of the lodge ownership 8 years ago, we brought some green paint over to the lodge and were going to paint some walls green, after we had been asked to paint one wall red the previous winter.  Well, for eight years, senior management in the lodge debated the cost/benefits of the green color and the go-ahead came in a moment of weakness by lodge owner Mike Trotter.  Before he could change his mind, Sally Trotter called us and told us where the paint was hidden. 

The before shot of the wall that is behind the tables in the dining room.

 

The "new" wall--it's got Jen's seal of approval.

 

More color in the lodge!

 

Of course, the best part was playing with all the trophies that had to come down off the wall!  This 50 pound King salmon was caught right off the lodge dock by a couple kids goofing around (not to be confused with the very adult people posing in this photo)!

It seems to pass the "sniff test".

Feeling Crabby!

 

February Visitors

February has been a busy month while we've been waiting for winter to show up.  Our friend Chuck came up from Portand.  He stopped in Juneau and Tenakee Springs before flying in to spend a couple  of days with us.

Chuck coming in on the Harris Air's Cessna 185.

I never noticed how short the clearance is under the wing.....

Another Candid, Unposed Photo!

 Kayaking over to Baranof Falls.

Pretty good water flow....

 There was lots of foam coming out of the salt chuck with the tidal rapids.

 The tide was too low for Chuck to get into the salt chuck, so we chucked the idea and headed out.

 Back at the lodge dock the tide exposed some starfish and anemones.

 Sunflower Stars--the fastest starfish in the ocean.  There is a world-wide epidemic afflicting starfish, but the bay seems to be OK so far.

 We had some big tides while Chuck was here, so we went out and got a few beach logs at high tide.

Securing the logs.

 Adding to the wood supply.

Chuck gave moral support while I changed out a bad water heater element, under the cover of steam.

Hanging out on the deck before Chuck flew to Sitka for a visit with Blain and Mo at the Hilltop Hut.

The St. Lazaria stopped by for a surprise visit since they happened to be in the neighborhood.

We had a chance to catch up with Harold, Lizzy, and Kate.

We barely had time for all the activities....face jewelry, ballet lessons, and lunch!

Perfectly placed!

A cramped studio for ballet.

Kate has better balance than I do.

But I do a pretty swift dipptiy do dip.  A strong finish under the watchful eye of the instructor!