Category Archives: Alaska

17 Days of Green – Quinn & Cinder

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I’ve been blessed to know a lot of cool dogs in my life. When I married Andy, I lucked into having Quinn-dog in my life as well.

Quinn, deep in the lush green foliage of Valdez, Alaska, 2002.

Quinn was purebred Siberian Husky, but seemed more cat than dog, sometimes.

Quinn relaxes next to my green fitness ball - Gabriola Island, Canada, 2003.

Quinn moved with us from Denali, to Canada, where we spent the summer of 2003.

Quinn waits while I work at Good Earth Farm, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, 2003.

And he made the cross-country move to our new home here in New Hampshire.

The Mighty Quinn & our old-growth rhubarb patch, Canaan, New Hampshire, 2004.

Quinn lived to be nearly 13 years old, which is a good, long life for a large, purebred dog.

Quinn-dog enjoying the sun on our front porch in Canaan, New Hampshire, 2005.

We missed Quinn so much after he passed, we couldn’t think about getting another dog.

Five years passed and we were still dog-less. Until, at last, our friend, Carmen, needed a home for one of the Denali Park huskies in her care.

Cinder, Andy & Me (in my green jacket) sledding in New Boston, New Hampshire, January 2011.

Cinder is 100% Alaskan husky, which isn’t an officially recognized breed.

Rather, it’s a term for a northern working dog, adapted to pulling sleds through deep snow. Hence the long legs:

Cinder & his green tennis ball, Canaan, New Hampshire, 2010.

Cinder is amazing! He’s the only sled dog I know who plays fetch. He also plays soccer. And he’s coming along as a hockey player, too.

Cinder under the apple trees, Canaan, New Hampshire, 2010.

Cinder is unusually friendly and willing to please his humans. If he didn’t suffer from seizures, he would have made an amazing lead dog. I just know it.

Cinder & Andy amongst the evergreens along the Bold Coast, near Cutler, Maine, September 2011.

We are so grateful to have Cinder in our lives. He brings us boundless joy (despite his penchant for chasing skunks)!

Me & Cinder at the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, New Hampshire, 2010.

What about you? Do you have a special dog (or two) in your life?

17 Days of Green – My Hat Studio

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When Andy & I first married, we lived in a 16’x18′ log cabin in Alaska, with no running water, no electricity, 2 miles from the plowed road in winter.

Our little log cabin home on Dry Creek, near Healy, Alaska.

It was rustic and cozy, and we loved it.

But there wasn’t much room for company, let alone space for my many fiber projects.

Family & friends visited for our wedding in 2001, but stayed in other cabins.

When we moved into our 1840’s home in New Hampshire, our living space increased ten-fold, and I was able to dedicate an ENTIRE ROOM to my fiber pursuits.

Talk about Heaven!

Green trim on the doors & windows of my felt hat studio in Canaan, New Hampshire.

Embroidered felt hats cover the north wall of my home studio.

Jungle green felt hats air-drying on wool blankets.

Embroidery yarns line the eastern wall of my felt hat studio.

I store my sewing threads in an antique sewing table drawer.

Did you know you can turn old bathroom tiles into dry erase boards?

Wine corks & bathroom tiles recycled into an office memo-center.

The back-side of my office desk, before adding dry erase tiles.

First tile up!

Dry-erase desk project completed.

My studio shrine: hand-blown glasses by Jordana Korsen, polymer horse sculpture by Luann Udell & wood-fired pottery by Becca Van Fleet Webb surround a photo of our Alaskan wedding.

Having space enough for a home fiber studio is something I’m thankful for every day.

17 Days of Green – Northern Lights

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One of the best things about living in Alaska?

Aurora (photo by Paul Moss)

Getting to experience the Northern Lights. In person. Right above me.

Northern lights over Malmesjaur lake in Moskosel, Sweden. (photo by Jerry MagnuM Porsbjer)

They didn’t happen every night, but when they did, the intense green pulsing and flashing, directly overhead, always set my heart on edge.

The Aurora Borealis above Bear Lake, Alaska. (USAF photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang)

The Aurora are other-worldly. The first time I saw them, it occurred to me: “If they invited me to go with them, I would.”

Red and green Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska. (photo by Mila Zinkova)

The Northern Lights are mostly an intense, flashing green. But occasionally, you might catch glimpses of red, or very rarely, blue.

Northern Lights with very rare blue light flashes. (photo by Jerry MagnuM Porsbjer )

It’s no wonder that northern Native people had many myths and legends about them.

One Inuit myth tells how the Northern Lights were imprisoned in rocks along the Labrador coast until a mighty warrior struck the stones with his spear, freeing most of the lights to dance in the sky above.

The rest remained in the stones known as Labradorite.

When I met my birthfather 3 years ago, his lovely wife gave me this gorgeous stone, to help connect me to my Labrador Metis heritage, which I’d never known before.

My Labradorite pendant steals the show and connects me to my original heritage.

Wearing my Labradorite stone pendant, I am connected both to my genetic heritage, and to my previous life in Alaska.

I am blessed.