HUNTING & FALL 08

Hello from The Last Frontier,

Hunting is here! It seems empty around here. Three hunting crews went out today.

PatLou our oldest, is hunting with some Cabela's outfitter way back in the Brookes Range. So far he has gotten dall sheep, bears, moose and caribou. The hunters that come are all rich old men who love to give money away like confetti so Pat is pretty happy. He is in charge of 30 horses and also does the cooking and helps in the hunt. They all love him! He calls on a satellite phone a couple of times already and seems eager to get home now that he has been there for almost 2 months. He will be spending the winter with us before going back to school later on to finish his welding certification. We miss him! Robin asks about him all the time....

Alexandra May and Dad went to East Fork which is about 4 hrs up the mountain, beautiful weather...but all the moose had been scared away from the previous hunts so they came back empty handed. This may be May's last hunt for a while since she will be leaving for Ireland and then the UAF....she almost didn't go with her Dad but I'm glad she decided to go in the end...the great outdoors is always something breathtakingly lovely at this time of the year....They had a good time with their crew.

Robin is doing well in school. He has recently turned 11. He is learning how to read and write and do basic math. He has a slew of new therapists coming to see him this new school year and he always enjoys new faces. I do most of his teaching and have been for the past 11 years. We still hve him on a neurodevelopmental and special nutrition program and he does well on it. His therapists continue to be amazed at his progress. He is a funny chap and gets along with everybody. Most of his friends are the young male adults here who take him on their own adventures from time to time, like riding, biking and helping with the animal husbandry chores which abound. He loves his life and we all enjoy him...the joy of our lives...

Just as an aside, when PatLu and self visited the UK and Ireland in '06 I was greatly impressed with what had been done with the Down Syndrome population there. I saw quite a few of them just walking and taking the public transportation with no supervision. The same applied for my visit in Madrid. I some some DS individuals very clean cut and businesslike going to votech college and also traveling on their own. I understand there is a certified teacher with DS who teaches in one of the local grade schools. I have since researched the subject of DS overseas and have found that they have done an excellent job at teaching and endeavoring to include these unique individuals into social life and community. I am hoping that I can get hooked up to a similar program in the US as Robin develops and matures.

Husband Pat continues with his piano shop traveling all over the state and going as far as Barrow up in the Arctic. Comes back with tales of polar bears and walruses. Amazing to think there are schools up there which need their pianos doctored! Not all native Alaskan or Eskimos either...white people doing scientific studies and Orientals abound he says....not a place for me...

May (18) still dreams of Ireland and the UAF to become a paramedic. She loves to roam the big outdoors with her newly purchased bow and rifle. My right hand man when it comes to help around the house. Well, loved by all here and a gem of a young woman. We will miss her when she leaves....still keeps up with her piano and voice and gives her occasional recital at church...

Annie (15) a lovely young lady very talented in the arts and hoping to become a therapeutic masseuse...she gives a wicked foot and back massage which comes in very handy to her parent's aching joints... :) much in demand all over the community with foot massage mainly since we all spend too many hours on our feet...hoping to find her a place where she can get certified...but she still has 3 more years of schooling...


WHAT FOLLOWS IS GENERAL FARM NOOS ABOUT HUNTING AND HARVESTING...

Tony, Chris, Cody, Craig, and Chris Ray went to East Fork this afternoon. This morning all the Geyers went to the Fish Lake Camp (Tommy, Meg, Sam, and Olivia); and to the Fish Lake Cabin went Brad, Thomas, Ben, Joey, and Jarred. I sure hope they don’t net 13 moose like we did last year.
This morning we received a call from the Fish Lake crew (cell phone has spotty coverage out there in the Mts). Brad, Thomas, and Sam G each got a moose out there.

Chris Ray just called from the East Fork area saying that Craig Mason shot a moose.

And, the weather bug has put out a weather alert for the Central Interior (that’s what the weather station calls it?). Here is what they posted for the Delta area.

Deltana And Tanana Flats- 1113 AM Akdt Tue Sep 2 2008

... Red Flag Warning In Effect Until 10 PM Akdt Wednesday For Strong Wind...

The National Weather Service In Fairbanks Has Issued A Red Flag Warning... Which Is In Effect Until 10 PM Akdt Wednesday.

We won’t be having a service tonight. We’re thinking we may have some moose meat to butcher by tonight. Otherwise, we’ll have a free night before having other busy nights.


I heard that Brad’s moose rack 52”, Thomas’s is 46”, and Sam’s is 27”; Craig’s moose is small.

Stephen Casey made it to Ft. St. John in good time. He was so sad to go, and were so sad to see him go. He is joining a music ministry school down in the L48 and getting some training in that department.

The big happening in Delta today can be found at: http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/sep/03/alaska-state-troopers-standoff-gunman-delta-juncti/
a disgruntled man held some locals hostage and waved a gun around, he was subdued with no casualties. My MIL and self were in nearby grocery store at time

Last night, Seth, Joey, and Peter came out of Fish Lake . They’d each shot a moose, and Peter shot a black bear. They saw several other bears and were even charged by two of them. The bears were happily munching the gut piles from previous moose kills. I have some pictures that the boys took that I’ll be sending along.

Peter and Seth are packing moose out today and tomorrow.

We are picking up potatoes tomorrow if the weather holds.

LATER.......

Goodmorning folks,

The sky is beautiful this morning with a reddish hue in it and on the mountains. It looks to be a beautiful day. It was 30° when I got up this morning.

Last night we cut and put away the last of our 12 moose. None of us were sad to see that job done. We had a good potato harvest on Sunday. Our potatoes were nicer than we had hoped but not as good as previous years – BUT we are very grateful for what we’ve gotten.

We still have yet to harvest the beets, cabbage, carrots and potatoes in our garden right here. We will be doing that soon, I’m sure.

later...

Goodmorning. We won’t be having church service this morning because we will be cutting up moose meat. Hmmm… that seems like all we do right now!

On Friday Chris Ray shot the 8th moose; it had an approximate 33” rack. Chris came out last night, leaving Jon, Jonnie, May, and Patrick up at East Fork. This morning, Peter, Seth, and Joey are heading out to Fish Lake for a few days.

Judy and Steve helped Cathy P put an outside finish on her logs so that it handles the weather well. Then Judy moved on over to Geyers home and helped paint the outside of their home. They painted that house a brightish blue. It’s pretty, just darker than it has ever been before.

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny and windy. Today is gray and cool. Everyone is painting decks and houses like crazy people. We are getting the schools ready for classes. We are trying to prepare for winter.

We had a family meeting tonight instead of service to discuss finances. J Always a fun subject. Afterwards, we went out to the garden to pick raspberries which have finally started to ripen. Then we went back to the tabernacle for rhubarb/strawberry pie with ice cream.

I forgot to mention last week that Jarred killed a black bear who was running around the farm. If I heard the story correctly, Allyson was walking home one night and as she turned the corner of her house, she almost ran right into the bear. She was carrying her baby daughter at the tie, but managed to keep her cool... The only nearby guy with a gun was Jarred so he was called to do the honors.

Seth and Rich went caribou hunting last Saturday. They each got a small caribou. On Sunday Tony, his boys, and Craig went out caribou hunting. Craig got a big caribou.

And… Stephen finally shot his dall sheep.

We had a good time with Del and Virginia Buerge last week. Not only did they both preach in the service and lead worship, but they helped out with farm activities.

Rachel and Michael O’Connell were here on Sunday. Michael preached an excellent word on the House of Israel.

Primary voting was yesterday. I voted. Did you? J

Tony and some of the boys started hauling hunting things out to East Fork today – the wall tent, food, sleeping bags, etc.

LATER

Well, we got our potato harvest in but some of the men are still trying to get a second cutting of grain. This has been the rainiest summer in a century! Can u believe that! Consequently sun has been scarce and growing has not been too good. Did not get many tomatoes in the green house and our potatoes were not the usual 40 tons. I think we got half of that. So we will not be selling this time...

A good time was had by all with hot chocolate and cookies at the end to warm us all up again. It was a lovely sunny autumn day.

No more for now. Will attach a few pictures.

GOD BLESS!!