An Unexpected Project

I have several projects lined up...as usual.  This one came about while working on another project that I will share in October, after I haul the completed works to the lower 48 and give to both my nieces.  Not sure they read this blog all that much, but of course it would be the time they did and would ruin the surprise :)  

My niece Liz (ex art major on the Left) made me 2 plaques Christmas before last that I will treasure for the rest of my life.  One is of the polar bears at the AK Zoo and one is of Amelia walking along the Kenai Beach at 2 or so.  Ever since then, I have wanted to do something like that.  I scoured Liz' Pinterest page and found what she did and then searched some more as the original project I intended to do this for was a bit more complicated.  

So, I tested my 2 nieces pictures on a slab of extra 3/4" plywood Rob had lying around.  I liked it so much I did one with Ryan too and figured I would cut them up and use as picture mementos to give each along with a disc of all the pics I took of them while they were here. 

The process is pretty simple and is all over Pinterest and I generally followed this: Photo Transfer to Wood

I used Liquitex Matte Gel Medium that I bought at Michael's with a 40% coupon for $8 or so.  Printed the pictures in black and white on our laser printer (has to be a laser printer so they say) and waited to rub off the paper.  After they thoroughly dried...I sanded a bit to see what they would look like roughed up.  I loved them! THEN I had Rob cut them as I wasn't intending to keep them or I would have cut the wood prior to the whole process if it was my initial intention.  Once cut, I sanded and sanded with a 150 or 22O grit paper (can't remember which) and used Formby's Tung Oil finish, that we have had on hand, on the exposed wood.  Then after the finish dried thoroughly, I sealed with Patricia Nimocks Clear Acrylic Sealer in a spray that I also had.

Finally, I had 3 claw hooks that were silver, so I spray painted them with gold that I had from the dresser knobs and attached to the back... Ta Da!  An unexpected project...completed. 

They were sent in the mail a few days ago...hope they like them :)

Again, these were meant to be a test for the...we will call it the "surprise" project.  I am glad I did it as it actually did not work out and I went another direction with the "surprise" project (wink wink).  However, SOO happy how these turned out and will probably make a few more during Christmas time with a little more thought and care as if they were not "unexpected" at all :)  Funny, watch the next ones not turn out nearly as nice.  That happens a lot to me...spend more time and attention and looks worse :P  We will see.

NOTE:  One thing I found is that light wood is needed for the wood photo transfers...not dark as the image won't be seen. 

And that is not all that went on this past week of course...

We had our 4th dental visit this past Tuesday where it was the first time she let them CLEAN HER TEETH!  WOW!  I am telling you she is getting braver by the day.  She was apprehensive at first, but then laid back and was fine :)  In all the other appointments, the dentist just looked at her teeth as she would have nothing to do with any sort of cleaning.

Then it was off to dance class where she had a private lesson!  She loved it, but was exhausted as there was no breaks while the other kids had their turn.   Already signed up for September.  I think (and I am not encouraging her either way) dance is her favorite.

Lastly, we headed to the zoo where we spent time with the less looked at animals, like the deer and the turkey.  We visited all the favs too (polar bear, wolves, tiger and musk ox) and had our traditional hot dog lunch at the cafe and smelled many of the gorgeous Alaskan sun-drenched flowers.  Seems as if we don't visit the zoo in the summer as there is so much more to do outside.  We tend to visit when there is snow and/or mud or just a hint of warmth in the air and hardly a visitor in sight.  This was a nice weather alternative ... but much more crowded :)

This week we also booked our trip to DISNEYLAND!!! WOO HOO!  Much more to come on that as we are going in March of next year.  I am thinking I am more excited than Amelia as she really doesn't grasp the whole Disneyland thing quite yet...she will soon. :)

Next week...the refinished table.  Hopefully it will be gone as I am putting it on Craigslist Monday :)  Wish me luck.

Happenings, Swimming and Blueberry Crumble

Our week began with another trip to the Eagle River Nature Center ... this time with a few friends.

Amelia was scared to death of this tree last year...this year she was the only one who would go farther into the tree for a pic...hence the shortest in the back :)  Her new found bravery is astonishing even to me and many have commented on it as of late!

As I mentioned in the Wierbinski week long posts, the nature center's road is undergoing some major transformations and thus the line for the pilot car can be lengthy.  Our friend Kayla just missed a pilot car and had to wait 45 minutes.  Unfortunately, there is no cell reception at the center, so after a few times seeing the pilot car without her, we figured she might not be coming.  So we headed for the Rodak trail without her. 

When we returned to the center...there she was!  45 minutes wait ... just missing the cutoff.

They all enjoyed their lunch and then played for another half hour or so, until we headed for the long line of cars going out.

The road construction is suppose to be done this year, but by the looks of it ... they will need another :) 

We also began SWIMMING this week.  We signed up at the Alaska Club thinking it would be packed...only 3 kids in the class.  When we arrived we watched the earlier class and she was very concerned her teacher was a boy!  I said just think of him as Adam (her cousin, who is a big mean football player but a teddy bear at heart)...once the class started she was all smiles and giggles and cannot wait to go back.  

She has been in pools many times and not afraid of the water, however, I feel a kid needs a new face to elicit a bit more bravery.   And even though, as my family knows, I love swimming and pretty good at it too (well before my arm surgery...Rob actually won a race we had at the pool when in Soldotna...sigh), it's best to see other kids swimming and do what they do.  

We also hit the grand opening of Bass Pro Shop here in Alaska.  We went early to avoid the crowds.

If I recall they have a great Christmas set up ... so super excited about that.  

We left empty handed although I was eyeing a North Face jacket :)

Puppet shows appeared a few evenings after dinner.  

Amelia has always loved them and this week's story was consistently about a kid (or animal puppet) getting lost and then finally finding her mother at the end!  I think it was due to a book we read about 3 owls who couldn't find their mommy. 

Many desserts were had this week (not sure why I was on a dessert kick)...one was my blueberry crumble.  Recipe is here.  I make it yearly and it is DELICIOUS.  It was in a Cook's Country magazine several years ago and is one of my favs!  I sooooo want to go blueberry picking this August!  

Next week I will share a Chocolate Chip Rhubarb Cake recipe that I made 2 days ago and a Banana Bread that I made for a playdate Amelia had with neighbors....as well as a few new projects that I have going on...why I can't start and finish one THEN move to the next is beyond me. :P

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Rhubarb Pie and Other Non-Rhubarb Things

For not liking Rhubarb all that much, I sure make a lot of Rhubarb desserts!  Since we have had a lot of company as of late,  I have made several pies and cakes this summer.  One of my personal favorites (and maybe it's because of the strawberries and not the rhubarb) is Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.  I had a bit of help with this one too.

Surprisingly, Amelia loves anything rhubarb.

I take a few different recipes and combine them to create my own favorite:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pastry for one pie crust (I make 3 at a time so one is usually handy in the freezer) You can find my recipe here.

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups diced rhubarb

2 cups strawberries, hulled

Line 9" pie dish with pastry.  Mix sugar, flour and salt.  Sprinkle a bit on top of the pastry in the dish.  Combine rhubarb and strawberries.  Add sugar mixture.  

Crumb topping:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

In a small bowl combine ingredients for crumb topping and cut with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Sprinkle (or dump if your name is Amelia) the topping over the surface of the pie.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes then lower to 350 for additional 30-40 more minutes.

I also realized I have not shared my standard go to recipe for Rhubarb Pie.  I do mix a few recipes for this one too.

Rhubarb Pie

(eek no pic)

Pasty for 1 pie

2 cups Rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup raisins (only because Rob wants them in there)

1 egg

4 crushed saltines

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix rhubarb, sugar, vanilla, butter and raisins well.

Add egg and crushed saltines. 

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Add crumb topping from above recipe (this is key in my point of view :)

Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes then lower to 350 for 30-40 additional minutes.

I would HIGHLY recommend Every Which Way with Rhubarb by Amanda Brannon.  My neighbor Renee suggested it and I had it on my Amazon wish list FOREVER until my mother-in-law bought it for me for Christmas last year.  Will be trying bunches of recipes from this book and will share when I do!

Speaking of Strawberries:

Although our strawberries for the pie above came from the store...we ate our first strawberry from our strawberry patch on an early morning when we didn't brush our hair :)  

Cut a few flowers for a centerpiece too:

She wants to cut everything.

And it was warm enough last week to break out the pool!  And make a salad??!

We also played some mean soccer on another let's not brush my hair day:

and had lots of busy time at her new desk...love the toes.

I forgot to share Andrea's bed when she arrived here.  Amelia picked out 3 stuffies for each of our guests...Andrea's looked like this: 

Lastly, our neighbor Renee brought over a bag full of goodies to fuel my recent chalkboard obsession :)  We took a pic to include on a postcard thank you for her and we used it for a few other thank you's we needed to get out. 

Amelia insisted on the unicorn.   Thanks again Renee!

The Final Day of the Wierbinski's Alaskan Adventure

We opted to not go to Seward.  It was ok weather here, but rain there and an almost 6 hour round trip car ride persuaded all to get most of the packing done and head downtown for the last bit of souvenir shopping.  An early bedtime was essential as they were leaving for the airport at 4:30am.  Since my iPhone photos from that day were non existent ... I asked Ryan, Liz and Andrea to share theirs from the last day and some of their favorites.

This is the only pic Andrea took.  Figured I would highlight it first.  

Ryan captured what was suppose to be serious packing.   In case you can't make it out...Andrea is in the bag.

Here are a few favs from Liz:

Whittier Harbor

Andrea would fit right in here.

My favorite photo of the tram sign.

Here are a few of Ryan's Favs:

At Eagle River Nature Center

Beer Sampling at the Snow Goose.  Love this pic.

Whittier and Prince William Sound

  

Waterfalls and Liz.  Since we had to wait a half hour for the tunnel, Liz and Ryan spotted a trail and went off for a short hike.

There you have it.  We headed home from Anchorage and packed any new finds, broke out some leftovers for dinner and played some serious games of Match and Move Memory and Scattergories, before heading to bed for the 3:50am wake up call.   Off they went ... home they headed...and the only hitch was a run for a plane that ended up delayed (don't you love flying!?!).  Andrea said she slept til 5 pm Eastern time. 

All I can say is I wish we had more time.   

I will be heading back East in September and seeing all the kids I have not seen for over a year now...this has been the longest I have gone not seeing Steve, Katie, Alex, Adam, Matt, Aaron, Conor, Calleigh, Livvy or Ciara.  Not to mention my sisters.  Doesn't seem like it has been that long but I am reassured as seeing Liz and Andrea made it feel..."like I haven't been gone at all" (my traditional saying when I see everyone again).    This will be our last Fall trip for some time as Amelia will begin Kindergarten next year ... so taking full advantage of football games, apple picking, fall festivals, fall foliage and that smell of Fall I miss so very much.  I am hoping to see a few of the boys (and Don too?) here someday for their own AK Adventure.  

It really is a trip of a life time...well...if you like flying for 2 days  and a bit of hiking.  :)  

Will return this weekend for our regular weekly post of happenings here...boring of course in comparison to this past week I am sure.

Miss you guys already.

WT Day 6

Mt. Alyeska (Aleut for Alaska meaning "great land" "mainland") is home to the Alyeska Resort.  World class skiing occurs here,  double diamond runs and in the off season, wacky adventure seeking daredevils bike down the mountain. Obviously, I participate in none of these activities as I still have my legs and brain functions :)  Above a view of Turnagain Arm at low tide.

A couple weeks earlier we came for dinner at the 4 star restaurant, Seven Glaciers where a spectacular dinner was had with Rob's mom and our friend Kevin that you can read about here.  Today we were settling on the Bore Tide Deli as my mouth was watering for Seafood Soup in a bread bowl...the only thing I have ever ordered here as it is fantastic.

Thanks Ryan for this Amelia pic :)

The only way up is on the tram.  

When we came with Grammy, the hiking trail was closed off.  I emailed Alyeska to make sure it would be open for our next set of visitors and learned it was closed for cable repairs on the ski lift that day...so we were good to go. 

Yep, I said hiking.  

Amelia was running for the first part and both her and Andrea were doing great with the short hike up.  Think we will make it.

Then...about 3/4 of the way up, Amelia wanted to be carried.  I would have if Andrea wanted to continue, however, Andrea turned around and started walking back down the minute I said "Andrea want to go back down?"  It was music to her ears :)  Bye Ryan and Liz...will meet you on the flippity flip :)

It's not a long hike and by the time we got back down, goofed around a bit and Amelia and Andrea plopped their butts down to "rest", Liz and Ryan had come full circle on the other side of Mt. Alyeska bowl where we were waiting.

Let's get some soup!

After a refueling, we headed to the Roundhouse Museum and gift shop that is atop the mountain, where I  purchased a few Christmas gifts :)  Then back down the tram for a bit more shopping at the resort.

Where there is a mirror...there is dance.

We pondered Gold Mining at Crow Creek Pass, however, the shopping wasn't complete, so headed to Anchorage where we  found lots of treasures at the Saturday Market...held Saturday and Sunday for local finds and foods.  Truthfully, I am not a big fan of the market, however, most of the guests I bring to it love it...so I am still trying to see what I am missing.

John Schwieder is one of my favorite Alaskan photographers.  Liz and Ryan seemed to think the same.  I have several of his books and wish I could spend a day just trailing behind him picking up photography tips.  Well...er...not when he is hiking Denali...I would skip that trip.

He has a shop in downtown Anchorage, as well as, appearing here at the market and all the Christmas markets too.  He usually mans his booth, so you get his inside view and stories behind some of the shots. 

We had to cut our shopping short as we had a crab leg dinner waiting for us back home and unfortunately, Rob had to go to work the next day so we couldn't eat too late. 

I put the above pic in to show you the face of the one who wouldn't eat crab.  She said she liked the taste but seeing how it came out of the shell...no way.  This is the same girl who LOVES anything Salmon...including the rancid dog food smell of Salmon Jerky.   I heated up some Chicken Noodle Soup and a slice of Moose's Tooth Pizza that we had left over. 

Liz on the other hand ...

Has the stab wound to prove she is an Alaskan King Crab lover.  Sorry only pic I had of the puncture...think I had a bit to much Pinot Grigio.

 

Amelia did a sticker face of Liz and Andrea that now hang framed in her room. 

 Tomorrow...packing day for a 7 am flight out of Anchorage tuesday morning.  Pondering :  Seward, hike up Flat top Mt. for Ryan and Liz only ... obviously, or finish the shopping that we cut short today....hmmm...let's sleep on it.