I moved to Interior Alaska a few months ago from the South and am finding life in the Last Frontier quite different than in the lower '48. We live in a one bedroom log cabin on the edge of the grid. I wondered if any of your members lived in Alaska as I would like to talk to some women who know more about life here than I DO! I garden, make pottery, sew etc and JUST got hot and cold running water in the house.......so I have many interests.
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I lived in the last frontier as a child...we were only supposed to be gone for two years for mom to finish school, it's been 14 now. *sigh*
I was a city girl (Anchorage) with a single mom who insisted that if we wanted to go camping as a family we had to find a sitter for her. *lol* We were involved in Campfire (even my mother was a Campfire kid), think it is the same thing you might be talking about--co-ed scouts is what I've described it as to others. Would love to find a chapter here for our children, but think hubby might go for full-on scouting.
Trying to talk hubby into planning retirement in the Alaskan bush, he's more interested in the backwoods of the Appalachians. It is rather convenient to be in the lower 48, especially since all of my extended family has moved out of the grande north country.
Don't know if I'd be of much assitance with current life in AK since I left when I was 12, but I miss it dearly and would love to chit chat on a regular basis. Being the Interior you're going to have brutally cold winters (they were considered mild in Anch since the Cook Inlet and the Gulf brought warmer waters to moderate, but our sewer pipes still froze on occassion) and the air gets so dry there can be a static issue. It's beautiful country, always wonder where I might be if things had gone according to plan when we left 'temporarily'. *grin*
My first teaching job was in the bush. It was a great experience and I love Alaska. It was very cold in the winter--below 65 below. You just have to adjust and take precautions. The 23 hours of light bothered me more than the 23 hours of darkness. I was above the arctic circle that is why it was so cold and light/dark. I can answer more specific questions if you want to write to me at (contact us for email address). Once you learn the ropes, I think you will love it as I did.
Thanks for your responses! There is just something about this country that gets under your skin I suppose. I guess the thing that has bothered me the MOST in the past few months is the low humidity and it was really bad when the wood stove was burning daily. I had to use a humidifier and it still seemed to low for me. Of course I am from Alabama and used to 80%+ humidity! It is not as bad this summer.
We have a full garden and knock on wood have only had one moose and one bear "attack"......then immdeiately after the moose treating my garden like a salad bar my sweetie started digging fence holes and skinning poles. So now I have a 4 stringer electric fence around it that looks like a corral. We investigated a lot of fencing options as moose are typically impossible to keep out if they want IN.....but we think this is working fine for now. The only other people out this way that we know of whose garden is intact also have an electric fence set up.
Our Campfire is a self-reliant living discussion board. It is just great, though mostly men. A lot of gun/ammo/hunting talk goes on there but if you look under general discussion, harvesting etc you will find some really good ideas.
We picked Alaskan blueberries last week and I made jam....but it did not taste all that great. I used a local recipe but there is just something I did not get the hang of or adjust for apparently. These little berries and not like the plump sweet ones at home. I guess the word WILD has some signifigance so I need to find a local who knows the ropes on this one. Too bad since it took a LOT of time in mosquito infested gnarly woods to pick a gallon.
We are growing our potatoes in old tires this year and they are looking excellent. I will make a seperate post on that one as it is really a great idea.
We used to eat a lot of crow berries. After we washed them we'd heap them into a dessert bowl or such and sprinkle on some sugar (sometimes pour is a more adequate term *grin*). I miss the high bush cranberries. Yummy, yummy! Moose steaks are fabulous if you'd like another method for protecting your garden...*grin*
As for the additional dryness with the woodstove. Place a bowl of water on or near your stove, it will evaporate the water into the air in the room. Won't make it anything like the humidity of the southeast (I'm in NC and loving the humidity, especially after living in AZ for awhile!), but every little bit helps! I remeber in Anchorage we had one of those clunky old 'room' humidifiers with the great big filter belt type thing that was a royal pain to clean, and an even bigger pain to fill. Could have placed a slab of wood on top of it and made it into a sideboard if it was a smidgen taller!
I am new to this site and have thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the posts.
I saw your post on chatting with someone in Alaska. We moved to Alaska in 1995 and have lived in Kodiak, Palmer, Anchorage and now Wasilla.
If you want to chat you can email me directly at : tator2ter@worldnet.att.net.
hHi Boodiejo,
I just moved back to the lower 48 almost 3 years ago. I lived on the Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. I miss the slower lifestyle. My other half and I were forced to move back down here because of the economy. When I first moved up there I was so lost, you know, no friends, no job, and didn't know how to get around. I guess you could say it's like new kid on the block, you have to learn things all over. We lived right next to the ocean. We fished, clammed, and crabbed. I don't know what else to say. If you'd like to chat I'm at we.is.here AT gmail.com Hope things get better for you.
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