Black Bears and Red Plaid Flannel

June 2011

Daylight exceeds 21 hours a day in June.
Tired from the days work we settled down for the evening with a movie at 9:00 pm.
I went outside to go to the outhouse and what did I see but another bear in the fish rack. When I relayed this to Andy he hopped up and said, " Enough of this!" He pulled on his red plaid, flannel robe and slipped his feet into his rubber boots, picked up his gun and headed toward the trees on a rise above the rack of fish. I was laughing because all I could think of was Elmer Fudd in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
I was watching for the bear from the porch when he popped his head up from the willows, so I called to Andy that the bear had moved up river several yards and he headed in that direction hidden by the trees. Just a few minutes later I heard a shot and then another within seconds of the first. I went to meet Andy as he walked back to the cabin and I called out "Did you get the bear?" he replied, "Nope! I got two!"

I was now almost 9:30 PM and we have two bears to skin. Movie on hold till dawn.

Archeologists who come each summer to dig on our site, which is believed to be an ancient Han summer camp, were camped nearby with a group of students . I walked over and told them what had happened and asked the men if they would help us move the bears. The whole group were eager to come see and happy to lend a hand. They stayed on for hours and helped with the entire process. The students cheerfully learned something new and different that night.

Bank Swallows and Bears = Spring

Always a treat to see the Bank Swallows return to the houses Andy built for them. What a flurry of fussing over which house to choose.

She says, "I want to live in this house!" He says, "I want to live in a hole on the bank!"

After sometime of the silent treatment guess who won?

As springtime awakens so do Black bears and they migrate through our property. Their curiosity is peeked when they smell our dog fish hanging in the rack and they have to investigate before they move on. Fun to watch them from a distance but a little daunting getting fish in the evening to feed the dogs but when we need meat for the freezer it is nice that they deliver.

Blitzen's Booboo

May 13 2011
Shortly after letting some of the younger dogs loose for playtime, disaster struck. Blitzen was leading the stampede towards the cabin for cookie treats when he slipped on the wet stairs his leg went through the open riser. The rest of the pack behind him propelled him forward shattering his front leg. Andy took him to the vet in Fairbanks where he remained for over 4 months. His leg is not perfect and sadly long trips with the team are not likely for our sweet Blitzen.

Blitzen in his makeshift splint.

Back on the Yukon River

May 12 2011
The Yukon River is starting to run mostly clear of ice after breakup. Andy clears the hugh chunks of jumble ice that are left on the banks for a boat landing. No snowplough to clear our road becauce the river is our road. He is always the first on the river with a boat around here.

Where did 2011 Go!!!

As we all know , it is not the years that go by slowly but the hours.
I have been negligent in my blog duties due to no fault other than my own procrastination. So without further a-due here is my lapse in a nutshell.

Foxtails