Saturday March 8

 
This is what it looks like along the north side of the wing where my apartment is.

 

The moose must think we keep the sidewalk shoveled off just for him.  He was at the door again last night. The sidewalk all the way to the kitchen parking area is covered with moose turds.

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This could be the year a woman wins the Iditarod!  Aliy Zirkle has about a two hour lead on Martin Buser, going out of Kaltag, 630 miles into the race. Four others are hot on their trail, and all have taken both their 8 and 24 hour stops.  But anything can happen.

 

Fifteen mushers have scratched.  That must be some kind of record.

 

 

 

This little guy has been following the race with me.  He is all harnessed up, ready to be hooked up to the tug line! 



Friday

I have been asked about Kasey's buddy, Newton Marshall, the Jamaican musher who is running the Iditarod.  He is running pretty far back in the pack, but he is not entered in this race to win.  I wish I could remember which kennel he is working with.  The big time mushers with the big sponsors raise puppies for future races.  Newton is running someone's "puppy team."  They are young dogs that look promising for future Iditarod teams.   Running this race as puppies, they will know the trail, and have experience for the future. 

There are several puppy teams in the race, but I'm not sure which ones.

 

I actually thought Easter was on April 1st, after seeing this poster.  Well, Easter is actually on April 20, so the joke is on me!  I have to say, it is a funny poster.

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The two Iditarod leaders, Jeff King, and Sonny Linder, are now on their mandatory 24 hour stop, so are being passed by the many teams who have already taken their 24.  Ally Zircle is now the leader and Martin Buser is behind her. Almost all the teams have taken their 24, which makes it so much easier for people like me (mathematically challenged) so see where they really are.  It would be wonderful see another woman win it this year.  Go Ally! 

And I am also rooting for John Baker, He is an Inupiat Indian, born and raised in a village on the coast.  He is running in 17th place right now, but when they get to the coast, his dogs will be in their home territory, and really do well there.  

 

Another photo I took out the window in March of 2007. 

Thursday

I have started a new painting of the scene I ruined yesterday.  This time using good paper and a different brand of paint.  Back to my good old Winsor Newton watercolors on a brand clean palette.

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A picture taken in March several years ago.  This was taken out the upstairs window at the house.  A deer died up against the fence in my back yard. It got covered with snow, and I was gone so much that winter, I never noticed it.  When the snow began to melt in March, this bobcat found it and was a regular visitor. 

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The Iditarod is heating up.  Martin Buser is running in third place right now.  I guess his sprained ankle is much better.  The two mushers ahead of him have not yet taken their mandatory 24 hour rest, and Martin has, so I would say he is definitely the leader.

I watched a video of the musher who broke his leg.  He was waiting to be flown out.  Seems he didn't get hurt in a wreck, but fell while chasing two loose dogs from his team.  He was in a lot of pain.  Poor guy.  He said, "I don't feel quite so tough right now."

All the sleds are equipped with GPS trackers, and this year they added an SOS button.   A good idea.
 

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Wednesday

There were four of us at art group today, and Conley baked cookies.  Betty Crocker didn't even help him!
 
The watercolor I planned to do today was a disaster.  I had masking tape on it for some quakie trees, and masking fluid on some bushes.  The paper I used was not the best, and when I removed the masking, the surface of the paper came with it. 
 
We were studying the elaborate roof design of the new apartments, and cannot figure out why they are building it that way.  Seems to me it would add greatly to the construction costs, and the construction company has already complained they need about $400K more to finish the thing!
 

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Beautiful sunny day, and even though it snowed a couple of inches more last night, it is quickly melting.  I have my living room window open. I parked my pickup back on the street by the side door and will just have to watch the weather forecast to see when a heavy snow is predicted.

 

 

 

Here is the colored pencil drawing Kasey did of herself wearing her cowboy hat.  I'll have to get out some watercolors for her next time she is here - and the pad of paper I tried to use this morning.

 

 



Here is an interesting pair, Anna and Kristy Berington, from Alasksa, identical twins who have run the Iditarod before.  No matter where they end up in the starting lineup, they travel within minutes of each other.

 

 



Tuesday

The Iditarod Trail is beating up the mushers and their sleds.  Six racers have scratched. DeeDee Jonrowe scratched in Rohn, and Martin Buser is resting in Nicolai, trying to decide if he should go on with a badly sprained ankle. The trail through the Farewell Burn has no snow.  Most of the trail has a shortage of snow. There will no doubt be more injuries and damaged sleds. 

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Here is the latest addition to my refrigerator art gallery.  Kasey did this in art class in school, and explained to me the difference between warm and cool colors. 

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Haven't finished the color pencil drawing yet, but I have a watercolor planned in my head I want to work on in art group tomorrow.  All this snow around, and I don't know how to paint it.  Paper is cheap - I am going to paint snow if it kills me!

Monday

Every time I click to begin a new post, I get a message about not being able to complete my request, and that someone, some time in the past, took offense at one of my posts and complained.  Then the program loads the page normally and I can make a new post.

Seems I posted a picture a long time ago of an angry looking bluebird sitting in the snow, and some of his language offended someone.  I don't know if they want me to delete the post or what.  I think I will ignore it.

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There were a lot of angry people yesterday because the Iditarod site went down and no one could watch the live stream of the restart in Willow.  At one time during the ceremonial start, there were over 5,000 people watching it, and "chatting" in a sidebar. 

 

Anyway, the mushers are all out on the trail, and a few of them have gone through Rainy Pass.  I will watch the results today.

 

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Because I was pouting over not being able to watch the sled dogs, I watched the Oscars last night.  There were sure a lot of fat women there - I could have fit right in.  I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres as the master of ceremonies.

 

 

Spur has grown so much.  Most of the pictures I take of him are blurry because he is constantly moving.  Kasey held him in a vice grip so I could get a picture of him.  Darn it, I cut off the unique black spot on his back.

 

 

Spring is trying to come, but it's not here yet.  I see more snow is forecast for the rest of the week.

 







Sunday

In spite of the wind, yesterday's new snow really stuck to things.

 



 

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Barrie said Chloe (bob tailed cat) has been hanging around, and that she was not looking good.  When Kasey caught her, they put her in the basement with Clyde.   Barrie said she was dehydrated and skinny.  After about a week in the basement, she is looking much better. Barrie wants to take her out to Susie's clinic and get  her caught up on her shots.  But she will have to depend on Kasey to catch her.  Chloe won't have anything to do with Barrie, but she likes KC.

 

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Kasey used my photograph of her to draw herself.  When I commented on it, she said "My teacher says she likes to see lots of details in our pictures."  I asked her "what are details? " She said "I don't know how to explain it, but I know what it is."  That she does!

 

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I spent three hours watching the live feed of the Iditarod start in Anchorage yesterday.  Technology is so wonderful!!  The live feed streamed perfectly, no waiting for anything to load, and the picture was sharp and clear. 

 

I decided to splurge and join the "Iditarod Insider".  I didn't think I would, because I don't know too many of the mushers any more.  But I couldn't resist.  I get the GPS tracking, so I can see exactly where each musher is on the trail at any time, along with other information.

 

When Newton Marshall left the starting line yesterday in Anchorage, he was dancing on the runners of his sled.  Here is a picture of him and Kasey doing a Jamaican dance in the parking lot up the Green.

 

 





Saturday

There's no doubt about it.  March has come in like a lion.  I woke up this morning to the sound of the wind whistling by the building, and snow was plastered up against the window.  I'm glad I'm not sitting on the ice up at the lake trying to catch a fish.  The big Ice Fishing Derby is this weekend. 

 

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I decided to try some reading glasses, just to see if I would like them.  These are dirt cheap, three pair for $10, and a 1x magnification.  They are nice for reading, and I am also wearing them when I work on the computer.

 

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I am trying to complete the set up of the "new" back up computer I've had for several months.  It's a pain in the neck.  I finally got a bargain on Microsoft Office 2010 in EBay, and have it installed and activated.  I installed an older version of Photoshop, and am not having good luck getting it set up.

 

 

I hope the animal rights activists see this photo of an Iditarod team that was taken yesterday in Anchorage.  I would say that's a happy dog!  The ceremonial start is today in Anchorage, and the real start is tomorrow in Willow.

 

 





Thursday

Feeling pampered.  The apartment has been cleaned, there are clean sheets on the bed, and Ann did some shopping for me at Ridley's and brought me the groceries.  And I have an afternoon of sunshine and a good book to look forward to.

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The lettuce in my refrigerator froze yesterday, so I have it turned down.  It's strange that it's gone this long without getting too cold.  Hope that's not a bad sign, but then that's not my worry.  All I have to do is ask, and they will bring me a different refrigerator.  Love it here!

 



 

 

Here is another book I couldn't give up and brought here with me.  This is Sir Cedric, and his faithful (and tall) steed, Walter.  Sir Cedric is a knight, and he jousts with Black Ned (who has black hairs growing out of his nose) and rescues Fat Matilda from the tower.  He takes her home, and asks her parents, the king and queen, for her hand in marriage.  They eat cucumber sandwiches and drink blackberry wine. 

 

Can you blame me for wanting to hang onto this book? 

 

 

Another February photo from the files.  I knit these socks, and yes, they are supposed to be mismatched.

 

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It is John Steinbeck's 112th birthday.  Maybe I will read one of his books today.







Killjoy

Yesterday I glanced up and saw a man's legs walking by my window.  He was walking on top of the ridge of snow that slid off the roof, so I could only see his legs.  He was carrying an axe,
 
I didn't take long to figure out it was Ken, and see what he was doing.
 

If you will look back a blog or two, you will see the photos of the huge icicle and lip of overhanging snow I have been watching.  Ken made short work of them with his axe.  I am sure he went around the whole building, knocking snow and ice off the edges of the roof.  Yes, I know that stuff can do damage to the roof and it needed to be done.  But I will miss the icicle.
 

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It's amazing what a little warm weather can do.  The surface of the street has appeared out my door!

 

 

There were three pieces of heavy equipment working to clear this street yesterday and haul off the snow.  They had "DEERE" written on the sides of them.  Why are they yellow? Haven't they heard that song "John Deere Green"?  Yellow is for Caterpillar.

 

Only four days until the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race!