Much ado about NOTHING!

It's Saturday.  It's sunny.  It's smokey.  What it really means is that there is nothing really going on with the Calvin's.  However, feeling the need to make a post, I took my camera and captured some interesting pictures of Mike, the cats, the stove, a few cranes, some geese and a tractor.  Pretty much, a hodgepodge of "stuff."

Fire it up!

 Mike filled the stove will pellets and fired it up.  Wow, did it put out some good heat!

 Zoee could not quite figure out the stove.

 Zoee liked the heat, but was not impressed with  the sparks.

Abigail is curious and loves the warmth!

 Creamer's Field During Migration

 Cranes are ready to head south before the cold sets in.

 If those wings don't start flapping, gravity will take over.

 "Hey, Wilbur!  Let's hit that Starbucks!  It's the only one within 500 miles."

 Cranes make their way from the North Slope of Alaska all the way to Florida during migration.

 

 The Canadian Geese obviously do not realize they are about 300 miles from the Canadian border.

Otherwise, they would fly east!

 Okay, it's not a John Deere, but I thought it was pretty!

Pellet Stove Sunday!

Goodbye, cold house!  So long, flannels and fleeces!  The Calvin's have a new addition to the family!  It's a 200 pound pellet stove that will keep us toasty warm on those 50 below days!

Before the stove could be installed, Mike built a base on which the hearth pad would sit.  He took 2x8 pieces of lumber, somehow connected them together and finally put tile around the bottom.  He, then, put it in the corner of the room where the stove would be installed and placed the carefully selected hearth pad on top.

Today, with the help of a friend (no, I'm not the friend), Mike installed the new master heater, a Harmon P43 pellet stove.  As I tried to stay out of the way and not interfere, I would occasionally take a peek.  I saw him measure, measure twice and then I suggested measuring a third time before he cut the hole from the inside to the outside.  Mike carefully and skillfully used a saw to cut the first hole on the inside wall.  Then, he moved to the outside and almost flawlessly cut a hole through the vinyl siding to connect to his "inside" hole.  There was only one "oops" but apparently it was not a big problem.

After watering the garden, pulling weeds and picking tomatoes, I came inside to a perfectly, well almost perfectly, installed pellet stove!  Here are the results of Mike's hard work.

 Hellooooo, there!  Mike's hole is successful!

 The hearth pad Mike so lovingly built for me.

The finished product: A stove that will allow us to keep the temperature above 60 degrees!

Blueberry Greed!

Mike and I started out on a 14 mile hike through the White Mountains, today.  We were set with all the necessary equipment and food:  Sandwiches...check!  Water....check!  Snacks....check!  Bear spray....check!  Berry bucket....check!

Mike and I were humming and whistling while hiking along the trail.  We were happy!   I was using my new camera and lenses to take pictures of beautiful things like butterflies and flowers and other stuff, when all of a sudden, Mike stopped cold in his tracks. He had noticed the first blueberry bush loaded down with big, ripe, luscious blueberries.

Mike stopped for a second, picked a couple, looked at me, than sat down and started picking off of every bush within arm's length.  He kept picking and picking and picking and picking.  Finally, he looked at me and told me to start picking!  Being the obedient wife that I am, I complied and started picking berries.  I picked and I picked and I picked.  Mike picked and he picked and he picked. After four hours of picking, we had only ventured about a mile from the car, but came home with a bucket full of fresh, perfectly ripe blueberries!

While we may have done nothing more than pick berries, Mike and I did notice a few "signs of the time."  Fall is definitely, just around the corner!  The cranberries are starting to turn a deep crimson, the blueberry bushes are turning red and other leaves are turning yellow!  With lows in the mid 30's, it's easy to see that fall is creeping upon us!

 Berry picking in an undisclosed location.

 

 Mike gets sucked into the berry patch!

 Blueberries by the handful!

 Blueberries!  They're mine...all mine!

 Aaaaahhhhh, noooooo!  No yellow leaves!

 

While most of the leaves are still green,

we are seeing more and more yellow ones.

 Leaves fade from green to red on the blueberry bushes.

 More red leaves!  Yikes!

 

 The Alaska Cotton is starting to lose its hair!

Fall must be on the way!

 Foxtail

 Not sure, but ain't it cute?

  Hello, butterfly!  Heading south?

 Maybe one day, you will grow big and beautiful like the butterfly.

  A mushroom finds a home nestled with the cranberries.

Shooting: Playing with Guns and Cameras

Whew!  What a week it has been for the Alaskan Calvin family!  Mike and I have been involved in all sorts of competitions.  First, we entered pictures into the Tanana Valley State Fair and then we competed in a shooting clays tournament last Saturday.

Mike entered one picture and I entered twelve.  Of my twelve, six were awarded ribbons.  While I did not take any blue ribbons for 1st place, I did take two 2nd place, one 3rd place, a 6th place, a 7th place and a Theme Award ribbon.  Mike's one and only picture did not place, but it certainly should have!  It was a beautiful night scene from Hawaii.

The shooting clays tournament sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America was a lot of fun!  There were 7 teams of 5 people who competed.  Mike, knowing that he and I would be the weakest shooters, stacked our team with three sharp shooting men!  Smart move, Mr. Calvin!  We called ourselves Four Dudes and a Dame.

Each team had five stations at which to shoot.  At each station, we each had 10 turns to shoot.  One station pulled clays that went straight out into the sky.  At the second station, they clays oscillated.  At the third station, there were doubles (two clays pulled at one time).  At the fourth station, the clays were "wobbled" through the sky making it almost impossible to shoot.  The final station was the sporting clays.  Don't ask me exactly what that it, just know that it was harder than the wobbly ones!

In all, each member of the team had the chance to "kill" 60 clays.  Out of the 60, Mike shot 22 and I shot 19.  However, the other team members carried us!  They all shot between 40 and 50 clays!!!  Four Dudes and a Dame took 2nd place! 

As summer is winding down, I don't foresee any other competitive events in our future.  I start back to school next Tuesday and will hit the ground running with a student teacher.  Mike, as always, is busily working and staying focused on business.

Tanana Valley State Fair

Photo Contest 

 3rd Place: Smiling Sarah

 2nd Place: A Winter Sunset

 7th Place: Stumped

 Theme Award: The Hungry Caterpillar

 2nd Place: The Bathing Beauty

 6th Place: Raspberries

Boy Scouts' Shooting Clays Tourney

Team Four Dudes and a Dame

 

Mike and Kristie may look good, but shoot terrible!

 Oooo, I sure hope I hit one, eventually!

 Mike aims and he.....you fill in the blank!

Four Dudes and a Dame take 2nd Place!