Winter Garden???

Yesterday Ernie and I built a cold frame.

What that actually means:

I built the wooden box for the cold frame several days ago when Ernie was at work.

I decided I wanted to build the top.  I asked Ernie for some advice about something.
And then the engineer took over.  It is probably better.  He is capable of cutting in a straight line (partly because he keeps his eyes open, I'm sure), and the whole thing is probably more structurally sound.  And he got the challenge of building onto something that I had already started. 

You see, I am not an engineer.  I don't think that I have ever heard the phrase spoken aloud, but I'm sure I have been thought of as an "anti-engineer".
And when I built my part of the frame, I just kinda thought about it for a minute, and then started cutting.  And pieced it together as I went.
It worked fine.  But that was also my design for the lid, which is slightly more complex.  (But only slightly.)  And Erno's brain doesn't accept that level of planning.  So he had to turn it around in his own head until he came up with A Plan.  At least it entertained me as I stood watching him work on my project.

And I also got to run to the store for more screws.  And clean everything up.

Is nice though, no?
It is made of real cedar fence boards, and the lights are acrylic sheets, and the hinge is vinyl fabric.
And I have very many seeds to test out in it.  I just hope it is not too late.  And I hope that none of the seeds need direct sunlight.
But it should keep things relatively warm and dry.

We'll see how it goes.  If there is progress and success, I'm sure I will update you.  If everything fails, we may just forget this ever happened.

Decisions

Hi Guys!!
Sorry for the long absence.  I have been in the process of rethinking this blog.

When I first started this blog, it was to keep everyone updated on the goings-on up here in Juneau.  A way to stay connected, if you will.  I had no idea that Ernie would also be interested in having a blog.
For a while I saw his blog as some sort of competition, with his updates making it unnecessary for me to update.  His argument was that we see things differently, and write about different things, which is true, but for awhile I didn't know how I would do that.  I'm still not sure...

The other thing that I have discovered during this process is that I am not a photographer.  I don't think my pictures are that bad, but I am unwilling to spend time with my face behind a camera when there is stuff going on.  Case in point:  during the last two major events in my life, whale-watching on my birthday and our wedding-on-the-roof, I haven't even taken a single picture.  It either didn't occur to me in all of the excitement, or I haven't wanted to give up the big picture to record the little picture.  Ernie, on the other hand, is an aspiring photographer and constantly takes pictures wherever we are.  Very good pictures at that.  And a lot of them.  Thank god for digital cameras, or we would be spending a fortune on film.  Again.

What I am interested in is the writing.  I just have this idea that no one would be interested in my blog if I didn't sprinkle it with interesting pictures throughout.  Which is actually okay with me, now that I think about it.  So I think I have decided to keep writing, and not stress out about not having pictures to put up.  I will leave that part to Erno.  I still have plenty of words.

That said, I also have some pictures...

Turns out, I like to take pictures of ice and blueberries.  So that's what you get.

Look mom!  I got my picture taken with an iceberg!

The Mendenhall glacier visitor center.

I love the clouds in this picture! 

We are currently in the process of clinging to the last bit of summer.  The weather has been good, but it is getting dark early, so we brought our kayaks to Mendenhall lake (3 minutes from our house), and kayaked around the icebergs for a couple of hours.  There is some sort of sign saying we couldn't get within sight of the face of the glacier, so we didn't, but Ernie said it had been there since he was a kid, so maybe they just forgot to take it down.  I'm sure we will give it a try when there are less tourists around.