Catching Up

Catching up on updating the blog. That's a 5.4 pound beet Grayson is holding, from our garden harvest this weekend. More harvest pics at the bottom of the post, but first some other pics I've been needing to post:


Had a great visit from Sterling Mize, the Chappells, Givens and Kirkpatricks, traveling up from Texas. They timed their visit just right for some nice weather (for Alaska this time of year). We enjoyed visiting with them.


Our recent change of command gave us an opportunity to dress up and show a little bit of classic Navy around the Air Force base.


Landon finished his first X-country season this past weekend. He's come a long way after rehabbing the badly torn hamstring from last year.


After Landon finished the Su Valley meet.


We were close by after watching Landon run, so we headed into Talkeetna for lunch.


Lunch at the famous West Rib.


Talkeetna moose everywhere 'downtown'.


These decorative moose are an icon of this small Alaskan town which was the inspiration for the TV show Northern Exposure.


Looking out over the Susitna River.


Alaska Railroad passing by Talkeetna.


Talkeetna Roadhouse.


The Harry Robb cabin, built by freighter David Lawrence in 1924. Robb, a retired Yukon river boat captain, bought the cabin from Lawrence in 1930 and lived alone in the cabin until he passed away in 1976, never eating a meal in the cabin because he walked one block to the Roadhouse to eat all his meals, every day.


The hobbit house outside of Talkeetna.






Back home, Dino was scared into his doghouse by a ruffed grouse...better safe than sorry (I guess).


Today was our garden harvest. We dug potatoes, and pulled carrots, beets and onions. We left the lettuce and rhubarb, and will continue to eat on them as we need to until they freeze out. We also left the large pumpkin plant, with budding pumpkins, but I think the weather will kill it off before the pumpkins grow big enough to harvest.


Bucket by bucket. This years' harvest was less than a third as plentiful as last years. We went on a long vacation right after planting, so the untended garden didn't produce as well as past years - but we did alright, considering we did nothing but plant and harvest.


Those are some pretty large beets.


If I had a day off to enter it into the state fair, I think we would have placed. But you have to enter your outdoor vegetables for the competition on a weekday, so they didn't get entered.


Grayson calls this guy 'carrot man'.


Another view of the big beets, beside our carrots, potatoes, and onions.


Last year's potatoes lasted us all year, plus we gave some away....this year we'll have to stretch them out to last even part of the winter. But the carrots are sugary sweet just like we like them, and the beets will be pickled and saved for later.

Landon's Moose Hunt

Landon drew a permit to take one antlerless moose this year in the valley where we live. So we outfitted him with the right gear, and spent the last two weeks on foot around some of our beautiful Alaskan scenery.


Much like Jolene's moose hunt in 2009, we first hit all the state/borough land on the other side of the valley from our house, getting him some experience hiking/navigating/stalking in some new terrain.


But, also like Jolene's hunt, the moose were elusive in the beginning.


Along the way, we came upon some interesting sites in the woods, like this leaf (moss) hut survival shelter someone had put up, complete with a rainproof moss roof.


Always being watched from overhead.


The hunt gave us a chance to appreciate God's magnificent creation all around us.


After several days of hiking all day, Landon decided to spend a day hunting from the ground. No blind needed in these woods, he blended in well. Later we got a temporary permit to put up a tree stand on state land near the house, to let him hunt from a stand in the evenings after school. But, up until last night, no moose.


Last night we walked the state land near the house, another place where Jolene and I hunted on her anterless hunt in 2009. We pass Mr. Tree on this trail each time we walk it....he holds a spare set of sunglasses in case I forget to take mine with me when walking to the creek to go fishing. He greeted us last night - with fresh moose sign on the trail directly beneath his tree - so we began stalking.


After turning a corner, there stood Landon's moose he had been waiting for. One shot, one kill, through both lungs and nicking the top of the heart. The moose only ran ~50 yards before expiring.


He did a great job on the hunt, and on the shot. Put that Savage 30.06 he got for Christmas to good use.


Then....the work began. He shot at ~8:30 last night, and we brought out the last load of meat at 5 am this morning. That's a lot of meat, and Landon and Grayson stayed up with me to cut it up, piece by piece.


By morning, we had whittled it down to just a bare rib cage remaining.


His shot severed the artery right at the top of the heart (and went through both lungs), perfect shot since it put the moose down quickly, while preserving the heart to eat.


"Landon has a big heart"


One day I'll figure out what to do with the lower legs. We use them as handles for the quarters until time to go to the processor, but once I cut them off, they typically go unused. Might make for some interesting coffee table legs?

Landon and I enjoyed the experience together. This hunt was almost identical to Jolene's hunt in Sep 2009, right down to how close to the house we ended up harvesting the moose. If you scroll back to the Sep 2009 blog about her hunt, you'll see many similar photos.

That completes our hunts for this year. Between salmon, halibut and this moose, our freezers will be extra full. Next up is our garden harvest, but first a couple weeks of rest.