What did you do at the ripe OLD age of 10

So good help is hard to find… or Any help.. at all!  It seems impossible to find help here in the bush. Tho we have had a couple that were literally priceless….. and we have had some that you wouldn’t believe the story if you seen it yourself, but that’s for another post.

 So we decided that we as a family, can come together to make it work.  It takes all of us to make it work, but it can be done.

So what did you do at the age of 10?

No video games here!!!

Drive a dozer, you say? Yes, that’s what Berry is doin’ at the ripe OLD age of 10.

No he’s not moving mountains yet, but baby steps people, baby steps! He is learning quickly, tho

Here he is driving it down the road, don’t worry it’s just a little one, lol, whatever!

P.S.  I tried letting Berry drive the jeep (the neighbor taught him to drive last summer), he said “ya, ya, mom I know how to drive” then took off.  I thought, “oh he knows what he is doin”, WRONG!  He went to stop and just slams the jeep (an automatic) into park as we are doin about 15 mph!!!  As Faith is flying into the back of the seat, he looks at me and says “what? what’s wrong, that’s what you do in the dozer”  I told him, he needs a repeat course in driving 101, he laughed at me.

Here we are following Berry (in the dozer ) out to the half way point to the mining camp.

Water has BROKE!!!

Water has BROKE!!!

That’s right people it’s official, the water has broke!!! here in Alaska anyway, and the kids are doing their happy dance or jumping across the creek or whatever.

This is a huge monumental time for us, we start kicking mining season in gear.

The guys have already moved out to the mine and us girls are keeping the house going, (or facebooking, same thing)  while they get everything up and going for mining season.

It’s exciting!!!

The down side, Water has BROKE!

Everything is wet and we are trying to direct the water, in large amounts, out.

The roads become mucky and nasty as the water floods them and washes parts of it out.  Deadwood road can be BAD!!! but we’ve taken some time to direct it, open some culverts back up, so maybe not so Bad this year.

Graci is helping Darrell, dig out spots to direct the water, she is good at Bossing, that’s what princess do ya know.

Bead Hop and Swap Final Piece

Okay so I admit it, I am a last minuter!  I got the idea, but execution was totally lacking.  There is nothing worse than having the idea and not being able to execute it.

I love the show piece! The picture doe NOT do it justice, the colors just don’t come thru.

However, I gave it my all.  This is what I started from, from my awesome partner Linda Anderson at fromthbeadboard.blogspot.com (love her and her site)….

and the BEAUTIFUL show piece from https://www.etsy.com/shop/PennysLane

Linda was a great parnter.  I was very intimidate by an administrator as a partner, but she was a Rock Star partner, patient and even going over and beyond when I was going into labor, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner!!! Plus she sent me great stuff! I was overwhelmed and wanted to put most of it in one piece, but that would be overkill, especially with the range of things she sent me.  I can develop my skills and try some new things I have never done.

I have never worked with polymer clay.  I was really impressed with the piece!  The color is very irradesent, I really love it!

So this is what I came up with….

I loved trying something new and this bead hop was great!

Excited to see everyones pieces

Bead Peeps Swap N Hop 2015  Partner List    Our Hostess: Linda Anderson from http//:fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com Linda Anderson http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com (You are HERE) Marica Zammit http://www.beadlovelies.com Jessica Hocutt https://faithfamilyandadventure.wordpress.com Kristina Hahn Eleniak http://www.peacockandlime.wordpress.com Debbie Jeffries http://wordpress/debrasdivinedesigns/blog.com Rosantia Petkova http://bairozan.blogspot.com/ Shalini Austin http://jewellerybyshalini.co.uk/my-blog/ Catherine La Vite http://drygulchbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com Annica Larsson http://zestyfrog.wordpress.com/ Lori Schneider http://beadaddicted.blogspot.com/ Divya N http://www.jewelsofsayuri.com Mowse Doyle http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com Fay Wolfenden http://torchfairy.blogspot.com Kathy Lindemer http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/ Claire Fabian http://saraccino.blogspot.de/ Janice Warden Bergeron http://thejewelryroom.blogspot.ca Natalie Davidson http://www.northshoredays.com Deb Fortin http://www.studiok24.blogspot.ca Inge von Roos http://ingetraud.wordpress.com Karen Mitchell http://overthemoon-design.com Robin Reed http://willowdragon.blogspot.com Marie Covert http://thistledown-and-swaddlings.blogspot.com/ Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca Nan Smith http://www.wirednan.blogspot.ca Johana Nunez http://artincendi.com Kelly Hosford Patterson http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/ Lori Blanchard http://alainnjewelry.WordPress.com Sue Kennedy http://suebeads.blogspot.com Shai Williams http://shaihasramblings.com Niky Sayers http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk Melissa Trudinger http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com Candida Castleberry http://www.spunsugarbeadworks.blogspot.com Erin Guest http://www.renlish.com Nicole Rennell http://nicolerennell.com/blog Ien Temaluru http://ienmaginationsjewelry.wordpress.com Robin Showstack http://heartsdesiresjewelryforyou.blogspot.com/ Sam Waghorn http://palemooncreation.blogspot.co.uk Marianne Baxter http://www.simplyseablimejewelry.blogspot.com Elsie Deliz-Fonseca http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com Shai Williams http://shaihasramblings.com Lee Koopman http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com Jayne Capps http://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com Marti Conrad http://artisancomponentmarketplace.com/martisbuttonsandbeads/2015/03/20/bead-peeps-blog-hop/ Tina Bosh http://bookbug-somanybookssolittletime.blogspot.com/(Injured reserve) Eleanor Thomas http://woolywireetc.blogspot.com Jeanne Steck http://www.gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com Gloria Allen http://www.wingsandbeads.blogspot.com Rachel Mallis http://www.mintmonarch.com/#!blog/c1jlz Andrea Glick http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/ Stephanie Stamper http://skwds.blogspot.com Chris Haussler http://pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com Betony Maiden http://www.beadwenches.blogspot.com/ Kari Asbury http://hippiechickjewelrydesign.com/blog/ Jenny Kyrlach http://anafiassa.blogspot.com/ Colleen Foley http://colleenfoleycreations.blogspot.com Marybeth Rich http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/ Marcy Lamberson http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com Dyanne Everett-Cantrell http://www.deelitefuljewelrycreations.blogspot.com Ginny Lones http://www.Skippingintotheunknown.blogspot.com Maria Rosa Sharrow http://willowstreetshops.blogspot.com Loretta Carstensen http://designsbyloretta.blogspot.com Dolores Raml http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com Michelle McCarthy http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com Louise McCormick-Glazier http://jewelrytreasuresbylouise.blogspot.com/(Injured reserve) Heather Richter http://desertjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com Tammy Adams http://www.paisleylizard.com/blog/ Shirley Moore http://beadsandbread.blogspot.com Seed Beaders Susanne Stelljes http://pearlify.blogspot.de Sheila Prosterman http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com Pallavi Asher http://kalaabhushan.blogspot.in/ Jami Shipp http://celebratinglifewithdamamashipp.blogspot.com Peggy Kosier http://www.kosydesigns.blogspot.ca/ Andra Weber http://andrasjoyfuljourney.blogspot.com Catherine King http://catherines-musings.blogspot.com Krafty Max http://kraftymax.com Sierra Barrett http://giraffecanhas.wordpress.com Lois Sherwood http://thiznthat5454blog.wordpress.com Katy Heider http://onthepondcreations.blogspot.com Rebecca Robertson   (White) http://morganafeycreations.121hub.com/ Heather Richter http://desertjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com Brandy Collier http://bhjewelry.wordpress.com Stephanie Haussler http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com Lori Blanchard http://alainnjewelry.WordPress.com Kathleen Breeding http://99bobotw.blogspot.com Becky Pancake http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com/ Tami Norris https://jewelrybytami.wordpress.com/ Ginger Bishop http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com/ Peggy Johnson http://charmbarn.blogspot.com

 

My metal work

I would like to give a shout out to my bead swap partner Linda Anderson of Cherry on Top Designs Co. for taking me as a partner with no idea what she is dealing with.  Yes, I can be a hot mess, but without viewing any samples, whoa….scary, lol!

So I finally dug out some samples of my metal work.  They were deep in storage and since I am huge preggo, it took a while.  Since moving here, I have not been hard at it as before.  With 5 kids and the 6th on the way, homeschooling, living in the bush, it gets busy.

but here are a few samples…….

This was my first official etched copper piece.

I moved on to soldered glass pieces.  So much fun and so many ways to go!

And then a lil’ silver…..

A bezeled jasper stone and then……….

Stamped silver with fresh water pearl bracelet…my fave!

 

So here is a sample of my work and more to come, unless this lil’ man comes early, which is expected, lol.

On to lampwork beads next………

 

Eating in the bush

Okay for a family of 7, with the 8th coming any day now, living out in the middle of nowhere has it’s challenges!  Our cabin is in a very small town, especially winter everyone heads to warmer weather.  We have 1 store/restaurant/shower/laundry/etc.. place to shop, but the prices are a lil to hard to swallow…

sliced ham $14.00

shower $7.00

wash/dry load of laundry 7.00

for a big family this is a bit out of budget

So we try to shop once every 1-2 months in bulk, this means about $2500-4000 in groceries in 1 day typically.  Talk about work!!! Plus we have a flat bed truck, loaded down top to bottom. Which has it’s cons

1.  Kids- smash kids in to truck and pack non freezer items around them, they can NOT move for the 3 hr journey home.

2. Ravens-  The ravens are in all the parking lots, waiting and watching all the vehicles looking to ravage.  I had one dig to the bottom of a box to bust open a 25lb pack of hamburger meat right in the middle.

3. Freezing- Temperatures range all the way to 50 below zero, so for a 3 hr trip home food freezes FAST!

4.  The mountain passes-  You must check temps and weather.  If the wind is blowing you can get stuck on 1 of the 3 mountain passes.  This wouldn’t be good for kids packed in for over 18 hrs or the food on the truck.

So taking all of this in mind we like to get groceries as little as possible.  Here’s some pics of one haul. About 1 months supply.

Take in mind we have a little cabin and have to find places to stash everything,lol. Everything becomes a hot mess to unpack and then put up, we are so tired from the trip. And this isn’t half of it!

I mean 10 dozen eggs, 13 boxes of cereal and 100lbs of sugar should do for a while you would think!

p.s.  I miss eating out SO MUCH!!!!! cooking 3 meals and usually a dessert or snack a day for the family gets old quick and variety gets stale.