Hazel Daisy

Born 12:30am December 18th 7lbs 19.5 inches

39 weeks 4 days

It has been a crazy baby week!  Hazel is either like me (can't make up her mind) or like Pat (just plain ornery).  Saturday night she started dropping and has caused torn or strained ligaments in my abdomen, which was causing me great discomfort when I would get Braxton hicks, which in turn made me think I was in labor, which turned out I was not.  But thanks to the wonderful people I know, midwifes and physical therapist, my abdomen is feeling MUCH better.

This morning at 3am I woke up to contractions 10 minutes apart, there was no doubting that these were contractions this time.  This went on until 8am and then nothing.  No more contractions.  So we wait.....
Pat is excited as he is finally close to the no work work week.

Another Moose

Another moose is always an excuse to get together. A few beers,fresh burgers and the job was accomplished. We ended up with about 350 pounds of processed meat which was divided between 6 families. No empty bellies this winter. Thanks Blake for letting us make a mess at your house.

Little Joe showing big Joe how it's done

Meat Cartel

Earrings

New work @ the Captain Cook

Home made heat

It cost too much to buy and send a small wood burner to us, so I'm working on building one. One sheet of metal, metal snips,some hammer power and a little ingenuity gets you a homemade stove. It's a work in progress but by summer time I hope to have it worked out.

35 weeks

Last post 30 weeks, this post 35 weeks...quite a difference in belly size!  This scares me because I have 5 weeks to go until the due date, not sure if this body can keep up with the growing girl inside!  The body is an amazing thing though.

30 weeks

Pat and I attended our first childbirth class last night.  He did great, just slight kicking and screaming on the way there, had to buy him dinner before hand too. 

Confusement

First weekend not at the cabin for quite-a-while (almost 5 months). Having some difficulty adjusting to intercity life.

Things I miss:

1. Packing heat

2. The big dipper

3. The outhouse

4. My slingshot and a 2 pockets full of rocks

5. Dirt

6. Fire

7. Moose at the front door

8. Silence

Closing up

We decided it was time to close up for the year, 27 degrees in the morning and snow on the way home made us feel we made the right decision. Joe and Carlee came down for some hunting and berry picking. We got into a bunch of grouse and hares and Joe was able to connect on a few. The potato experiment was somewhat successful, we ended up with more than we put in the ground and have a better idea for next year. Lots of animals seen while down, many looked like they were heading south.

Dark,Lights and Joe's Camera=Sweet

27 weeks

Almost to the third trimester!

Fall Stuff

Two weekends ago we added a lower window so we can see if any big hairy monsters are in the meadow before going out the door. Braces were added to the roof, Blake calls it over engineering, I call it job security and Kellie calls it fixing mistakes, however you see it the roof should do well with a snow load. Only time will tell. The potatoes are growing pretty good, should be ready in the next month. We've gotten into picking rose-hips and processing them to get a tasty nectar. Tons of low bush cranberries makes for easy picking. I've been on the prowl for grouse and have run into a few, tried with a sling shot but didn't have the punch I needed so switched to the 22 and got results. Joe told us about a viking game called Koob or something similar, we got our hands on it and is becoming slowly addictive. Russell thinks we're playing keep away. Kellie was able to soak up some sun and finish a book. I finally got a chance to jump my bmx, I was hoping Tom would be the first but he had a bum ankle. Here's an example of the big air I caught. We've been experimenting with candle power since we finally have to deal with darkness, I whipped out a few lantern prototypes over the weekend. All models allowed for about 6 feet of trip free night walking but aren't strong enough for a worry free stroll when it comes to big hairy monsters. Great weather and only 2 moose at the cabin this weekend and 3 last weekend. No bulls yet.

6 months

Six months and counting!

Berries and Moose

Summer rain has made for pretty good berry picking. We've been able to collect lots of blue berries and a fair amount of bog cranberries. Kellie was lucky enough to draw a cow moose tag, which we were able to fill last week end. We're very excited about all of the delicious berries and meat.

Interesting Finds and a Few Treats

A few Modifications

Bear proofed (at least makes us feel better) the door, shower and soap shelf installed and fire shelter built, rain and fire are now separate experiences.