I'm not much of a fair-weather blogger

Dear reader -- you may have noticed that I don't post much during the summer.
Well, now it's officially Autumn, and foul weather has arrived in South-central Alaska. We've had wind and rain the last couple of days (and snow last weekend!), and the frost has put an end to our gardening efforts.

Therefore, chances are I'll have more time to blog again now. In fact, I started blogging two years ago around this time of year. It's been fun -- I'm not at all a regular or dedicated blogger -- I only blog "when the mood strikes". After all, it's only a hobby, and one should never become a slave to a hobby!

So what am I up to these days? Well, my olderst daughter is about to return from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), roughly 2660 miles. It will probably be a difficult re-entry into "real" life, after having spent 6 months away from "regular" civilization -- probably on par to returning from a stint in a war zone or in prison, where one has gotten used to a life very different from "normal". Now she has the challenge of re-entering the job market, which has not improved a whole lot since she left...

At my own work, school class fieldtrips are slowing way down, and the Nature Center has started "winter hours". For me, that means I'll have time to bake and start quilting again -- I've agreed to make a 15th Nature Center anniversary quilt for next spring, so I better get started on that. Also, I'll be taking a trip to visit my folks in Germany later in October.


For now, I'm busy with "fall" cleaning around here (sort of the equivalent of spring cleaning): mosquito screens are taken down; the garage has been cleaned out enough to make room for the family wagon. The camper is winterized and stored, and firewood stacked for the winter. Soon, we need to change the summer tires to studded winter tires so we can drive on the ice and snow that is sure to come soon.

But not too soon!