What are you doing?????

Traffic has slowed down in/around Soldotna as summer comes to an end, after the upcoming Labor Day weekend it will slow down some more.  We have been in a rainy stretch getting some rain every day.  Our camp host along with Rosalie and I have been nursing colds, the last two days being the worst for me and Monday/Tuesday being the worst for Rosalie.

Last Monday was the last time I have been fishing when I went to Big Eddy and caught 1 Red and 20 Pinks in 2 hours.  It sounds like the Silvers are running in Seward and we would like to get back over there to try and catch some, I was going to go yesterday, but my cold prevented it.

Jim, Lyman and Fritz Meacham plan to leave tomorrow for the Cantwell area moose and caribou hunting, which will leave Donna and Willow home alone so we will plan to spend more time in the Sterling area.  We also plan to pick some wild cranberries, which are just about ripe.  The trees are just starting to change color and should be peak color about the time we leave in about a month.

That's about it for now.....

Surprise - New arrivals

There are new arrivals here at the St. Theresa's Lakeside Resort:

The campground owners' dog was accidentally bred by a yellow lab (inside her kennel). Here are the results. 

I was staying with Dixie because Mary had to go into town for a meeting. An hour and a half after she left, Dixie gave birth to the first puppy! She had her 11th puppy at 4 am. What a pile of puppies. Dixie didn't quite know what to do with her first, but she learned fast and is quite a good little mom by now. 

Anyway, we will be on our way home before these babies are weaned, so we won't be bringing any back to Wisconsin. Mix of German Short-Hair and Yellow Lab. Supposedly a popular hybred in the lower 48 states.

I spent last week at sewing events

Last Tuesday I took a class on making a bowl with fabric covered cotton clothesline. The technique taught was different from others I have seen, and included a flat fabric insert for the base (inside and out). It was fun to do.

I added the top band matching the base, and added the handles. I have clothesline cord to play a little more with this technique.

On Wednesday, I attended an "event" at the local sewing shop on long-arm free-motion machine quilting. They demonstrated the capabilities of two different machines: one a table-top model, where the needle is static, and you move the quilt sandwich around under the needle (most similar to using my little sewing machine); the other is a big quilting machine where you move the needle all over the quilt (or let it run on a computerized pattern by itself). I was enthralled by the machines, but they are quite expensive and take up a lot of room (the big machine takes up 10 or 12 feet - the entire space of the 5th wheel, lol). I did get to play on both machines and that was fun.

On Thursday, I went in to the local quilting guild meeting with fabric to cut to make Ken's lap quilt. I got it all cut out, and brought all the pieces home; while Ken took the boys out for exercise, I laid it out on the bed to organize each block in preparation for sewing on the serger (I like to use the serger on flannel), but neglected to snap a photo before pinning the blocks in order. I'll now have to wait until I sew it together to give you a peek at it.
Today (Aug. 19) I finished sewing Ken's quilt top:

Now, I will just have to spend time sewing and sewing and sewing. FUN for me.
Rosie

Work/Homer/Silvers

Even though we are "on vacation", a better description would be "we are away from home".  There are still chores and daily tasks to do, such as laundry day, evidenced by this picture.

Ken continues to fish almost every day, but the Red run has slowed significantly, there is plenty of Pink action and the Silvers have started to run in the Kenai as well.  Ken fished the Kenai today at the Pipeline and caught 20 Pinks and 1 Silver during 2 hours of fishing. Fishing pressure was low, but there was a Warden working the river who stopped by and checked everyone's license and bag limit.

Yesterday Rosalie, Donna and her friend Ann visited Homer and took some well deserved "Lady" time sight seeing and spending time away from the trailer.  Rosalie has spent a lot of time at the trailer dog sitting and dropping Ken off to fish and then picking him up.  Here are some pictures in/around Homer.

In case you were wondering there are at least two names for the salmon we are catching, not to mention their Latin names.  Here is a list.

Sockeye = Red/Preferred for eating
Pink = Humpy/Locals don't save these and consider them a nuisance fish
Coho = Silver/Sought after late season, bigger than Reds, smaller than Kings
Chinook = King/Trophy fish , the biggest of the salmons

Pinks

We have been enjoying the mild weather, for the past week+ we have had temps in the high 60's/low 70's and lots of sun. We had a couple periods of rain, but nothing that slowed us down too much.  Red fishing near Soldotna has slowed, but the Pink (Humpy) action has picked up.  Yesterday I went in to fish at Big Eddy and caught 20+ Pinks and snagged only 1 Red that I had to let go, because of being illegally hooked.  Fishing pressure has also decreased, which makes fishing more fun.

Monday the Meacham brothers and I went to the Russian River in the afternoon and caught our limit of Reds in about 3 hours.  We all caught many mature fish that we released and "hooked" several more that would get off.  Fishing pressure was moderate and will only pick up there.

Today is our 26th anniversary, we don't have any big plans, but will go out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant we heard about in Soldotna.  I also need to get two bags of dog food from the front storage compartment and may do some organizing while I'm in there.

Hopefully we can go out for ride and exercise the boys a bit and get some new pictures to post, so check back soon.

The freezer is 3/4 full of fish and to date we have 81 salmon in there, 5 of which are Pink Salmon.