Lisa's Log: Fairbanks Visit, March 2016

So last weekend we drove up to Fairbanks to visit Steph and Isaac. One the way up there, we ran into blizzard weather through Denali Park. Since we didn't really have a winter at our house this year, for me it was a welcome sight, even though it significantly slowed us down, which Chuck wasn't too happy about. Why are men always in such a hurry to get to where they wanna go?

Why is it that men can never just enjoy the journey?

Hurry, hurry, hurry............!

When we arrived, I was glad to see Mica again. She is such a nice cat. I really wouldn't mind taking her home with me. We always laugh at her cuz every time she meows, she sounds like she's asking a question.

"Meoww??"

Of course Charlie was SO EXCITED to see us!

For his Easter present, we gave him this stuffed Easter bunny. He carried it around with him all weekend and even slept with it at night.

Speaking of which, he INSISTED on sleeping with me and Chuck at night.

Have you ever slept with a horse?

Me neither, but I think I know now what it would be like to sleep with a horse in your bed.

It doesn't work very well.

Since Steph was on spring break from her work, she decided to use this time to work on some home improvement projects, so we came prepared to help her with that.

Chuck's job was to help her install some windowsills on all of her windows. It took a few trips to Lowe's and/or Home Depot, a lot of cutting, and a lot of priming.

While they were working on windows, I was given the task of painting one of her bathrooms:

It took me about a day and half to get it all done, including all the taping, and redoing some spots three times because textured walls are hard to cover evenly, even with a roller. I was supposed to do the ceiling too, but graciously bowed out of it because I didn't have confidence that I would do a decent job with that.

Chuck's job of doing all of her windows took pretty much the whole weekend, so when I was done with the bathroom, I helped him with that wherever I could or when Steph was too busy with other things.

So, it was a busy weekend. We did have some down times though. Chuck and Isaac sometimes found themselves both sitting at the table with their computers, discussing and comparing videos and information about their favorite subjects: snowmachines, motorcycles, and for Isaac - Jeeps.

(yawn........!)

So that was pretty much it.

On Sunday we went to church, got a bite to eat a Chinese restaurant, and then drove home.

After a weekend with a hyper pup, it was so nice to get back home to Bossy!!

So now that I'm home, I got back into "gardening mode" and figured out which seeds I needed to start right away. From what I found, the tomatoes needed to be started 8-10 weeks before the last frost.

It's pretty hard to tell when the last frost is gonna be since every year is different. But the smart people usually consider June 1st to be a safe day to plan for planting outdoors. I always hope to plant on Memorial Day, but just to be safe, I counted 10 weeks before June 1, which turned out to be today.

So here we go:

This time I ordered two different varieties of tomatoes. The Stupice tomatoes are supposed to be strictly for growing in the greenhouse. The Polar Beauty tomatoes, so it says on the package, can be grown in the greenhouse OR in a warm place in a garden bed. So I started seeds for 6 Stupice tomatoes, and 12 Polar Beauty tomatoes. That way I can try my luck with them in both places.

For the rest of the seeds, I counted the recommended weeks before the last frost, and wrote down the dates on the packages, so that way I know at a glance when I need to start them. In a couple weeks I will need to start the zucchini and the pumpkins.

So here are my tomatoes so far. Looks yummy, don't it?

Since I had some leftover pellets, I also went ahead and planted some other seeds, just cuz I didn't wanna waste the pellets. Maybe I should've just went ahead and made them all tomatoes, but I didn't know if that would be too many.